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Factsheet

• Started his first job, working in a shoe-repair shop, at the age of 12; later worked as a forklift driver at Kmart and in the mail room of cable network TNN.
• Got his first guitar at the age of 16.
• Big break came in 1985, when his wife, then a flight attendant, gave his demo tape to country singer Glen Campbell at an Atlanta airport.
• Released his debut album, the platinum-selling Here in the Real World, in 1989.
• His 2006 album Precious Memories---originally recorded as a Christmas gift for his mother---was the first gospel recording to debut at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart.
• His wife, Denise, wrote a best-selling book in 2007 titled It's All About Him, detailing the couple's separation and reconciliation.