Andy Griggs
| Andy Griggs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Andrew Tyler Griggs |
| Born | August 13, 1973 |
| Origin | West Monroe, Louisiana, United States |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels |
|
| Associated acts | |
| Website |
www |
Andrew Tyler "Andy" Griggs (born August 13, 1973, in West Monroe, Louisiana) is an American country music artist. He has released three albums for RCA Records Nashville (You Won't Ever Be Lonely, Freedom, and This I Gotta See) and a fourth (The Good Life) for Montage Music Group. These four albums have accounted for 13 singles on the Billboard country charts, of which the highest are "You Won't Ever Be Lonely" and "She's More", both which peaked at number 2. He also charted "Grow Young With You," a cut from the soundtrack to the film Where the Heart Is.
Biography
Andrew Tyler Griggs was born August 13, 1973,[1] in West Monroe, Louisiana. His father, Darrell, died when Griggs was 10, and brother Mason served as the family's father figure until he died of a heart attack at age 22.[2]
Andy Griggs attended River Oaks High School. He briefly attended Northeast Louisiana University before returning to his hometown in the early 1990s, where he found work as a minister and began a family with his wife. He continued to work on his musical skills, however, and by 1999, he signed to a contract with RCA Records Nashville. Griggs has been married twice, first to Stephanie Sullivan in February in 1995, but they were eventually separated. In 2005 Griggs married Renee who eventually separated due to an affair he was having with another woman.
Musical career
Griggs' debut album, You Won't Ever Be Lonely, was issued in 1999 via RCA Records Nashville. Certified gold by the RIAA, the album accounted for five singles on the Billboard country singles charts. The first three singles — the title track, "I'll Go Crazy" and "She's More" — were all Top Ten hits, peaking at number 2, number 10 and number 2 respectively.[3] "You Won't Ever Be Lonely" also had the sixth-longest chart run on the country charts in the 1990s decade, spending thirty-six weeks on the charts.[4] Following "She's More" was a non-album song, "Grow Young With Me", recorded as a duet with Coley McCabe, and after that, "Waitin' on Sundown" at number 50 and "You Made Me That Way" at number 19. Also included on the album was a duet with Griggs' idol Waylon Jennings in the track "Shine On Me", as well as a cover of Jennings' "Ain't Livin' Long Like This".
He released his second album, Freedom, in 2002. Although its lead-off single "How Cool Is That" peaked at number 22, the second single, "Tonight I Wanna Be Your Man", became his fourth Top Ten hit at number 7. Closing out this album was "Practice Life", a number 33 duet with Martina McBride.
For 2003 and half of 2004, Griggs was absent from the country charts, although he, Montgomery Gentry, and Blake Shelton performed uncredited guest vocals on Tracy Byrd's 2003 single "The Truth About Men". Mid-2004 saw the release of "She Thinks She Needs Me". Co-written by Shane Minor, this song was the first single release from Griggs' third album, This I Gotta See, also released in 2004.[1] Although this song and follow-up "If Heaven" were both number 5 hits on the country charts, the album's third single, "This I Gotta See", stopped at number 58, and the fourth single ("I Never Had a Chance") failed to chart at all. By 2005, he had left RCA's roster, due to creative differences over his artistic control.[5]
In 2007, Griggs signed to his second recording contract, this time with Montage Music Group. His first album for the label, The Good Life, produced two low-charting singles in "Tattoo Rose" (co-written by Cole Deggs, lead singer of Cole Deggs & the Lonesome) and "What If It's Me". Three years later, he issued "Can I Get an Amen".
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales thresholds) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | |||
| You Won't Ever Be Lonely[A] |
|
15 | 73 |
|
| Freedom |
|
7 | 77 | |
| This I Gotta See |
|
7 | 59 | |
| The Good Life |
|
— | — | |
| Naked |
|
— | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | CAN Country | |||
| 1998 | "You Won't Ever Be Lonely" | 2 | 28 | 11 | You Won't Ever Be Lonely |
| 1999 | "I'll Go Crazy" | 10 | 65 | 2 | |
| 2000 | "She's More" | 2 | 37 | 2 | |
| "Waitin' on Sundown" | 50 | — | 57 | ||
| "You Made Me That Way" | 19 | 116 | * | ||
| 2001 | "How Cool Is That" | 22 | 119 | * | Freedom |
| 2002 | "Tonight I Wanna Be Your Man" | 7 | 52 | * | |
| "Practice Life" (with Martina McBride) | 33 | — | * | ||
| 2004 | "She Thinks She Needs Me" | 5 | 43 | * | This I Gotta See |
| "If Heaven" | 5 | 65 | * | ||
| 2005 | "This I Gotta See" | 58 | — | * | |
| "I Never Had a Chance" | — | — | * | ||
| 2007 | "Tattoo Rose" | 57 | — | * | The Good Life |
| "What If It's Me" | 52 | — | * | ||
| 2009 | "Cutthroat, Montana" | — | — | * | N/A |
| 2010 | "Can I Get an Amen" | — | — | * | |
| 2013 | "Don't Let Go" | — | — | * | |
| "20 Little Angels" | — | — | * | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart * denotes unknown peak positions | |||||
Guest singles
| Year | Single | Artist | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | ||||
| 2000 | "Grow Young with You" | Coley McCabe | 50 | Where the Heart Is (soundtrack) |
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "You Won't Ever Be Lonely" | Brent Hedgecock |
| "She's More" | ||
| 2000 | "Grow Young with You" (with Coley McCabe) | |
| 2002 | "Tonight I Wanna Be Your Man" | Roger Pistole |
| 2003 | "The Truth About Men" (with Tracy Byrd, Montgomery Gentry and Blake Shelton) |
Thom Oliphant |
| 2005 | "If Heaven" | Roman White |
Notes
- A^ You Won't Ever Be Lonely also peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and number 11 on the RPM Country Albums chart in Canada.
References
- 1 2 Wilson, MacKenzie. "Andy Griggs biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
- ↑ Newcomer, Wendy (2005-02-18). "Andy Griggs: He heals his past publicity with the hit "If Heaven" — and embraces his future privately with a hush-hush wedding.". Country Weekly. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 172. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
- ↑ Whitburn, p. 644
- ↑ http://dailycollegian.com/2006/05/07/countrys-griggs-leaves-rca-continues-with-album-no-4/