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Jamey Johnson an American country music artist well known for Signed to BNA Records in 2005. He made his debut with his single “The Dollar”, the title track to his 2006 album The Dollar. He got dropped from BNA in 2006 and signed to Mercury Nashville Records in March 2008, releasing his second album, the gold-certified That Lonesome Song.
Jamey Johnson Age
Johnson was born on 14th of July 1975, in Enterprise, Alabama.
Jamey Johnson Career
Johnson started off his career when he was a teenager, He had saved enough money to buy an Epiphone acoustic guitar, which he named Old Maple. He and his buddies loaded up on beer and headed over to Williams’ gravesite in Montgomery to drink and play country songs. Old Maple, which Johnson still owns and plays, still has the mark where he accidentally dropped it on Williams’ tombstone.
Though Johnson admits to a somewhat backwoods upbringing, he was always serious about music and studied music theory in junior high school. After high school and two years at Jacksonville State University, Johnson dropped out and joined the Marine Corps, where he spent eight years in the Reserves. His unit was sent to Iraq the week he was honorably discharged.
He performed in nightclubs around Montgomery and opened up one show for David Allan Coe. In 2000, he spent all the money he had to move to Nashville. He worked various jobs to make ends meet. He also owned his own successful construction company for a few years. All the while, he worked on his music and made contacts in Nashville.
One of those early contacts was Greg Perkins, a former fiddle player for Tanya Tucker. With Perkins’ help, he recorded some demo tapes, including a duet with Gretchen Wilson, who was also trying to get into the business.
Johnson later met famed producer and songwriter Buddy Cannon, who was floored by his music, and music publisher Gary Overton signed Johnson to a publishing deal with EMI Music. Johnson’s first major success as a songwriter came in 2005 when Trace Adkins took his song “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
During that time, Cannon and Overton worked hard to land Johnson a recording deal, which he received when BNA signed him. His debut single, 2005’s “The Dollar,” climbed to No. 14 on the Hot Country Songs chart. His debut album of the same name was released in 2006 and though critically acclaimed, it didn’t make a huge splash and he was subsequently dropped from BNA.
After being dropped from BNA, Johnson took some time off to work on his music and reflect on his life. He gave up drinking for a year and later acknowledged that his wild reputation probably had a hand in BNA dropping him from the label. “They thought I was a little too wild,” Johnson wrote on his website. “They did what they had to do. If I was in their position, I’d have probably done the same thing.” Though he’d lost his recording deal, his songwriting was still paying off handsomely.
George Strait’s recording of “Give It Away,” which Johnson co-wrote with Hall of Famer Whisperin’ Bill Anderson and Cannon, became Strait’s 41st No. 1 Billboard country hit, which handed Strait the all-time chart record. Adkins recorded and released a couple more Johnson songs, including “I Got My Game On” (No. 34 on the chart) and “Ladies Love Country Boys,” which became Adkins’ second No. 1 hit. Joe Nichols also cut two of Johnson’s songs, including “She’s All Lady” and “Another Side of You” (No. 17).
Post-BNA, Johnson began independently working on a new collection of songs that would eventually become his album “That Lonesome Song.” When the project was complete, folks on Music Row loved what they heard. A couple of record companies approached Johnson, but they wanted him to re-record some of the songs as well as cut a few more by other songwriters. He turned them down. Then when Luke Lewis at Mercury Records heard the album, he told Johnson not to touch a thing, and he was quickly signed.
In 2008, That Lonesome Song was released, and the praise was instantaneous. Rave reviews rolled in from Rolling Stone and The New York Times. The album picked up five Grammy nominations, three from the Country Music Association and two from the Academy of Country Music. His single “In Color” won Song of the Year honors from both the CMAs and the ACMs.
Jamey Johnson Net Worth
Johnson has an estimated net worth of $6 million.
Jamey Johnson Songs and Albums
- In Color
- That Lonesome Song · 2008
- High Cost of Living
- That Lonesome Song · 2008
- Playing The Part
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Can’t Cash My Checks
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- My Way to You
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Lead Me Home
- The Dollar · 2006
- Lonely at the Top
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Set ’em Up Joe
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Mowin’ Down the Roses
- That Lonesome Song · 2008
- Between Jennings and Jones
- That Lonesome Song · 2008
- Place Out on the Ocean
- That Lonesome Song · 2008
- Stars in Alabama
- That Lonesome Song · 2008
- Cover Your Eyes
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Poor Man Blues
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Redneck Side of Me
- The Dollar · 2006
- Rebelicious
- The Dollar · 2006
- That’s Why I Write Songs
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Heartache
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- I Fall to Pieces
- Living for a Song · 2012
- Baby Don’t Cry
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- That’s How I Don’t Love You
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- She’s All Lady
- The Dollar · 2006
- Thankful For The Rain
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- My Home’s In Alabama
- Alabama & Friends · 2013
- Macon
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Rebel Soldier
- Divided & United · 2013
- Even the Skies Are Blue
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Make the World Go Away
- Living for a Song · 2012
- Dog in the Yard
- The Guitar Song · 2010
- Ray Ray’s Juke Joint
- The Dollar · 2006
- Keeping Up With the Jonesin’
- The Dollar · 2006
- The Door Is Always Open
- That Lonesome Song · 2008
Jamey Johnson Education
Johnson joined and later graduated from Jefferson Davis High School, he later joined the State University, the same university from which Alabama lead singer Randy Owen graduated. While he was at State University, he was a member of Sigma Nu in the Iota Lambda chapter and a member of the Marching Southerners.
Jamey Johnson Wife
Johnson was married but later divorced his wife and took on a reclusive lifestyle, residing in a friend’s house while working on his songwriting. There is no much information about his love affairs.