Randy Travis is headed to Augusta to watch a Randy Travis concert, billed as the Music of Randy Travis Tour. After suffering a massive stroke in July of 2013, Travis lost his ability to speak and walk.
According to USA Today, Travis spent nearly six months in hospitals in Texas and Tennessee — about six weeks of it in a coma.
He had two brain surgeries, got pneumonia three times, was intubated seven times, had three tracheotomies and a feeding tube. While hospitalized in Nashville, Travis caught staph infections from hospital-borne bacteria and, again, doctors told his wife Mary Travis to say goodbye.
Since the 2013 stroke Travis has so far been left unable to perform and only partially able to speak.
Travis appears in Augusta at the Bell Auditorium Wednesday, October 23rd. The concert, heavily promoted locally on Facebook, will feature James Dupré, a former contestant on ‘The Voice, fronting Travis’s longtime band.
With 58 singles and over 20 studio albums, Travis should be set for life. Yet, after his stroke, he and his new wife discovered he had no disability insurance and his royalty checks had run out, leaving him broke.
This tour and a recent biography are a part of his attempt to right his financial situation after his divorce from Elizabeth Travis, his wife of 19 years and manager for 30.
The beginning
In 1985, Warner Bros. Records released the single “On the Other Hand” which peaked at No. 67 on the country charts. His next single, “1982”, became a Top 10 hit single.
In 1986, “On the Other Hand” became Travis’ first number-one hit.
In the late 1980s he had a string of hits, including “No Place Like Home” and “Diggin’ Up Bones”. The song “Forever and Ever, Amen” arguably launched the neo-traditionalist country era.
For two years in a row, Travis won the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, for the albums Always & Forever in 1988, and for Old 8×10 in 1989. He also won the ACM award for Best Country Newcomer in 1986.
Augusta is one of only 12 dates on the Music of Randy Travis Tour.
Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019
Bell Auditorium
Tickets: $250 (VIP M&G), $65, $50, $40
