Rodney Atkins Biography

Rodney Atkins was born in 1969 in Knoxville, Tennessee and adopted as a young child. He developed a love for guitar as a teenager and began writing music before high school graduation. By the early 1990’s, Rodney had set his sights on a career in music as a performer, and after a move to Nashville, he signed with Curb Records and released “In a Heartbeat,” his debut single, in 1997. The single was slow to rise on the charts, as were its follow-ups (“Sing Along” and “My Old Man”) but Atkins was about to experience a huge breakthrough with his next release.

In 2003, Rodney Atkins released his next single, “Honesty (Write Me a List),” a song slated to appear on his debut album, Honesty. The single finally brought Atkins into the top ten, and the song became a significant crossover success for him as well, finding a home on the Billboard Hot 100. The album fared well, but it was Rodney Atkins’s sophomore effort three years later, If You’re Going Through Hell, that would garner him the attention he sought. The album’s first single, “If You’re Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows),” finally placed him in the number one spot and became the top country hit of the year for 2006. It also earned him a Top New Male Vocalist Award from the Academy of Country Music, in addition to nominations for Song of the Year, Top Male Vocalist, and Album of the Year. If You’re Going Through Hell eventually rose to platinum status, and a series of successful albums and singles followed, including: It’s America (2009), Take a Back Road (2011), “Watching You,” “These Are My People,” “Cleaning This Gun (Come On in Boy),” “It’s America,” “Farmer’s Daughter,” and “Take a Back Road.”

With his star on the rise, Rodney Atkins has future plans for his next studio album release and additional hits. He continues to write, perform, and record.