Gary Allan possesses one of the most distinctive male voices in country music, and he has used it to record some of the most varied hits of any male artist of his generation. The California native grew up in a musical family, and he started his career playing honky tonks with his father when he was 13. He released his first album, 'Used Heart for Sale,' in 1996, but it was really his third album, 1999's 'Smoke Rings in the Dark,' that was his commercial breakthrough, going Platinum. Allan was struck by tragedy when his third wife, Angela, committed suicide in 2004, and subsequent albums dealt with Allan's inner pain, particularly 2005's 'Tough All Over,' which produced a hit in "Life Ain't Always Beautiful." He has scored a string of No. 1 hits that include "Man to Man," "Tough Little Boys," "Nothing on But the Radio" and "Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)," and he turned in a slightly different musical direction for "Hangover Tonight" in 2015. The song is the lead single from a new album Allan has been working on, whose release date is yet unknown.
- Real Name: Gary Allan Herzberg
- Birth Date: Dec. 5, 1967
- Top Songs: “Tough Little Boys,” “Life Ain’t Always Beautiful,” “Watching Airplanes”
- Did You Know? Allan sold cars before he signed his first record deal.
- Further Reading: Top 10 Gary Allan Songs