Jimmy Wayne Barber (born October 23, 1972) is an American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled debut album in 2003 on the
DreamWorks Records
DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...
label. Four singles were released from it, including " Stay Gone" and " I Love You This Much", which both reached Top Ten on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' country charts. A second album, '' Do You Believe Me Now'', was released in August 2008 via
Big Machine Records
Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...
subsidiary Valory Music Group, and its title track became his first Number One hit in late 2008. ''
Sara Smile
"Sara Smile" is a song written and recorded by the American musical duo Hall & Oates. It was released as the third single from their album '' Daryl Hall & John Oates''. The song was the group's first top 40 and first top ten hit in the US, reachi ...
'' followed in 2009.
Early life
Jimmy Wayne was born on October 23, 1972, in
Kings Mountain, North Carolina
Kings Mountain is a small suburban city within the Charlotte metropolitan area in Cleveland and Gaston counties, North Carolina, United States. Most of the city is in Cleveland County, with a small eastern portion in Gaston County. The popul ...
, and grew up in Bessemer City. His biological father abandoned him, and he and his sister were raised in and out of foster homes or were left with other people when their mother would leave them or was in prison. She served four months in prison in 1985 when Wayne was 12. After entering a group home, Wayne ran away and lived with his mother for a brief time before living on the streets and with his sister, Patricia, for a short while. He was invited to move in with an elderly couple, Russell and Bea Costner, (just down the road from where his mother was living), after being hired to mow their lawn. After finishing high school and earning a degree in Criminal Justice, he worked as a guard at the Gaston Correctional Facility, where he worked as a corrections officer for four years before moving to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, to pursue his musical interests.
Musical career
In Nashville, Wayne worked as a songwriter for
Acuff-Rose Music
Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. was an American music publishing firm formed in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms ...
, collaborating with
Dean Dillon
Dean Dillon (born Larry Dean Flynn; March 26, 1955) is an American country musician and songwriter. Between 1982 and 1993, he recorded six studio albums on various labels, and charted several singles on the '' Billboard'' country charts. Since 1 ...
,
Sanger D. Shafer
Sanger D. Shafer (October 24, 1934 – January 12, 2019), - at One of his first cuts as a songwriter was "
Put Your Hand in Mine
"Put Your Hand in Mine" is a song written by Skip Ewing and Jimmy Wayne (under his birth name, Jimmy Wayne Barber), and recorded by American country music singer Tracy Byrd. It was released in September 1999 as the first single from his album ''I ...
," released by
Tracy Byrd
Tracy Lynn Byrd (born December 17, 1966) is an American country music artist. Signed to Universal Music Group Nashville, MCA Nashville Records in 1992, Byrd broke through on the country music scene that year with his 1993 single "Holdin' Heaven" ...
in late 1999 from the album '' It's About Time''. By 2001, Wayne had signed to a recording contract with
DreamWorks Records
DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...
' Nashville division.
''Jimmy Wayne''
Wayne released his debut single, " Stay Gone," in 2003. This song was inspired by his sister, Patricia, who explained her marital troubles to him by saying "everything would be better if her husband would just stay gone," according to CMT. This song went on to peak at No. 3 on the U.S. ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
) charts that year. It was also the first release from his
self-titled
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
debut album, produced by
Chris Lindsey
Christopher Marsh Lindsey is a Grammy nominated American country music songwriter and record producer. He has created major hits for Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Kellie Pickler, Keith Urban, Tim McG ...
and
James Stroud
James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records (a subsidiar ...
. " I Love You This Much," the next single, went on to peak at No. 6, followed by "You Are" and "Paper Angels," both at No. 18. The album also included the song "Blue and Brown," which Wayne wrote about a foster brother who ended up a prison inmate at the correctional facility Wayne worked. "Paper Angels", written about the
Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
's Angel Tree program, earned him a William Booth Award from the organization.
Big Machine and Valory (2006–2009)
After DreamWorks closed in 2005, Wayne was transferred to
Big Machine Records
Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...
. His first release for the label was "That's All I'll Ever Need," which he co-wrote with
Mark Nesler
Mark Nesler (born January 5, 1961 in Beaumont, Texas) is an American country music artist. Signed to Elektra Records as a recording artist in 1998, Nesler charted three singles on the U.S. ''Billboard'' country charts. In addition, he has writte ...
and Tony Martin. This song was slated to be the lead-off single to a second album with a projected release date of early 2007.
Wayne later moved to Big Machine's sister label, Valory Music Group. His first single for Valory, " Do You Believe Me Now," entered the country charts in April 2008 and became his third Top Ten in August 2008. A second studio album, titled '' Do You Believe Me Now'', was released on August 26. For the week of September 13, 2008, the title track became his first and only Number One hit on the Hot Country Songs chart. "
I Will
"I Will" is a song by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles, from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles (album), The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and featur ...
" was released in October 2008 as the second single from ''Do You Believe Me Now'', and it peaked at No. 18. The next single, "I'll Be That", debuted at No. 56 in May 2009, reaching a peak of No. 46.
''Sara Smile'' (2009–2010)
In September 2009, Wayne released a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of
Hall & Oates
Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...
' 1976 single "
Sara Smile
"Sara Smile" is a song written and recorded by the American musical duo Hall & Oates. It was released as the third single from their album '' Daryl Hall & John Oates''. The song was the group's first top 40 and first top ten hit in the US, reachi ...
", with backing vocals from the 70's and 80's pop duo themselves. This cover is the lead-off single to his second album of the same name for Valory, released on November 23. The song has become Wayne's seventh Top 40 country single, as well as Hall & Oates' first Top 40 country single. The album's second single is "Just Knowing You Love Me," a duet with
Whitney Duncan
Whitney Duncan (born August 3, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She finished as the fifth place finalist on the fifth season of ''Nashville Star.'' She has released one studio album and has charted on the U.S. Hot Count ...
, which debuted and peaked at No. 59 on the ''Billboard''
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
chart.
Wayne joined
Brad Paisley
Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album ''Who Needs Pictures'', he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashvil ...
and
Dierks Bentley
Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's ''Modern Day Drifter'', ar ...
on the American Saturday Night tour in mid-2009.
Wayne was dropped by Big Machine Records/Valory Music Company in May 2010 midway through his walk halfway across America to raise awareness for the 30,000 youth aging out of foster care every year in the U.S.
Meet Me Halfway
On January 1, 2010, Wayne set out on a walk from Nashville, Tennessee, to Phoenix, Arizona, to raise awareness to the plight of the 30,000 children who age out of foster care every year in America, into homelessness
homeless youth
Youth homelessness is the problem of homelessness of young people around the globe.
Overview
Youth homelessness is a significant social issue globally, both in developing countries and many developed countries. In developing countries, research ...
aging out
Aging out is American popular culture vernacular used to describe anytime a youth leaves a formal system of care designed to provide services below a certain age level.
There are a variety of applications of the phrase throughout the youth develop ...
foster system. Called the "Meet Me Halfway" campaign, he walked a day, only taking days off the walk for scheduled concerts and to go to the
California State Capitol
The California State Capitol is the seat of the California state government, located in Sacramento, the state capital of California. The building houses the chambers of the California State Legislature, made up of the Assembly and the Senate, al ...
to speak in favor of a bill that would increase the age kids age out of the foster system from 18 to 21.
He successfully arrived in Phoenix on August 1, 2010, after suffering a broken foot four days prior, having successfully walked 1,700 miles over seven months. Even after completing his walk, Wayne continues to advocate for foster children. He has been a spokesperson for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a national network of volunteers who represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in the courtroom and other settings. and says his goal is to have the age that youth "age out" of foster care from 18, to 21, across all 50 states and to bring awareness to the cause of foster youth who are aging out of the system.
Writing
In 2012, he co-wrote the novel ''Paper Angels'', a Christmas story about a child who receives help from the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program and the man who picked his name. He wrote ''Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid Who Found the Way'' with Ken Abraham. The autobiography, published in 2014, details his life story which inspired the "Meet Me Halfway" campaign. In 2017, he wrote and published ''Ruby The Foster Dog'', a children's book, published by Broadstreet Kids in November 2017. The book chronicles Wayne's adopting a dog during his walk halfway across America. The story is told from the dog's perspective. Simultaneously, Wayne released ''Ruby Toons'', a 13-song album of songs reflecting themes in Ruby The Foster Dog.