Ryan Adams

Prolific and mercurial singer/songwriter Ryan Adams was born David Ryan Adams on November 5, 1974 in Jacksonville, North Carolina. His rise to stardom began with the band Whiskeytown in 1994. The group managed two albums, Faithless Street and Strangers Almanac, before dissolving. A collaboration with Emmylou Harris followed before Adams went solo in 2000 with Heartbreaker. His second album, 2001’s Gold, propelled him to fame. After producing Jesse Malin's debut release (The Fine Art Of Self Destruction), the two formed punk-rock group The Finger, dabbling in a new genre of music before turning back to his country roots with the somewhat bleak, Love Is Hell in 2004. That album contained a cover of Oasis' “Wonderwall” that earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance and high praise from Noel Gallagher. Another collaborative foray followed in 2005, as Adams hooked up with his backing band The Cardinals to throw out two more albums with a more rocky vibe. The group then went on to perform on Willie Nelson's Songbird, with Adams also producing. His eclectic and prolific work continued through the rest of the decade which was capped in 2009 with the publication of his poetry collection Infinity Blues and his decision to end The Cardinals. Ryan Adams started 2010 with the metal-inspired Orion and later in the tear dropped Cardinals III/IV, an album they had recorded four years before. 2011 saw the release of Ashes & Fire, his first solo LP since ending The Cardinals. A self-titled 2014 album hit number 4 on the album chart—his highest position ever on the chart—was followed the next year by a track-for-track cover of the Taylor Swift album 1989. After 2017’s Prisoner, there was a three-year hiatus from the release of new material in part due to allegations of sexual misconduct. 2020’s Wednesdays addressed the controversy with a series of downbeat songs, while 2021’s Big Colors rebounded into a happier vibe.