On the Charts 38 Years Ago, Randy Travis Was Back at No. 1 With an Album That Solidified Him as One of the Decade’s Greatest Country Singers

Announcing his presence with his 1986 debut Storms of Life, Randy Travis didn’t push country music forward so much as backward to the traditional elements that made the genre so beloved in the first place. Topping the country albums chart, Storms of Life sold more than 100,000 copies in its first week and led to Travis’ induction into the Grand Ole Opry by year’s end. It was a tough act to follow, but the North Carolina native certainly skirted the sophomore slump with his next LP, 1987’s Always & Forever. On this day (May 30) in 1988, Randy Travis was back on top of the country albums chart, further establishing his place among the neotraditional country movement’s stalwarts.

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Randy Travis’ First Double Platinum Album

Released in May 1987, Always & Forever had sold more than 2 million copies by January 1987, landing Randy Travis his first-ever double platinum record.

All four of the album’s singles shot to the top of the country charts, starting with “Forever and Ever, Amen”.

Written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz—the pair responsible for Travis’ first number-one hit “On the Other Hand”—the lead single spent three weeks atop the Billboard country charts. It was the first song to spend that much time at number one since Johnny Lee’s 1980 hit “Lookin’ For Love”.

The three subsequent singles—”I Won’t Need You Anymore (Always and Forever)”; “Too Gone Too Long”; and “I Told You So”—also ascended the country singles chart.

All told, Always & Forever spent 43 weeks at the number-one spot, breaking a previous record of 28 weeks held by Alabama’s 1982 album Mountain Music.

The album earned Travis Top Male Vocalist honors at the following year’s Academy of Country Music Awards. Meanwhile, “Forever and Ever, Amen” won both Song and Single of the Year. It also landed Travis its first Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

[RELATED: Born on This Day in 1959, the Golden-Voiced Country Legend Who Led the Genre Back to Its Roots]

This Single Became a Carrie Underwood Duet

One of the few songs Randy Travis wrote himself, “I Told You So” became a favorite of a young Carrie Underwood. “I first remember my sister having a cassette tape of it,” she told People magazine in an interview.

Two decades later, she recorded her own version for her 2007 album Carnival Ride. Then, in 2009, Underwood’s mentor joined her on the American Idol stage for this haunting duet.

The pair later recorded a studio version, which reached number two on the charts and went on to win a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

Featured image by John Mahler/Toronto Star via Getty Images