On This Day in 1990, Randy Travis Released His Legendary Duet-Filled Album—and His Fifth Consecutive Country No. 1

August 31, 2025 4:34 pm

Randy Travis’ sixth studio album is celebrating its 35th anniversary. On Aug. 31, 1990, the country singer released Heroes & Friends into the world.

Videos by American Songwriter

Save the title track, each song on Heroes & Friends was a duet. “A Few Ole Country Boys,” Travis’ duet with George Jones, was one of the LP’s singles. It peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The title track, meanwhile, reached No. 3 on the same chart.

Travis’ other duet partners on the album include Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Vern Gosdin, and Loretta Lynn. B.B. King, Kris Kristofferson, Tammy Wynette, Clint Eastwood, Conway Twitty, and Roy Rogers were also featured on the album.

As a whole, the LP topped Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart and peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard 200.

Randy Travis’ Second Duet Album

More than two decades after the release of Heroes & Friends, Travis released another duet-focused project. In 2011’s Anniversary Celebration—which marked 25 years of Travis’ debut album, Storms of Life—Travis performed duets alongside Zac Brown Band, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, and more.

“Doing this project was a lot of fun,” Travis told The Boot in 2011 of the album. “I truly enjoyed being there with these people.”

It was just two years later that Travis suffered a devastating stroke. At the time, Travis’ wife, Mary Travis, was advised by doctors to pull the plug. However, she refused.

“There was never a doubt in Randy’s mind that he could make it through it,” Travis’ wife told Fox News Digital. “… The doctors were just saying, ‘He just doesn’t have the strength to get through this.’ That’s when I went to him. That was the moment that I knew that Randy Travis was gonna make it because he squeezed my hand and a tear went down his face. And I said, ‘He’s still fighting.’”

Indeed he was. In the years since Travis’ stroke, he’s had trouble talking and singing. However, he’s continued to release new music with the help of AI. Travis has also continued to tour—most recently on the More Life Tour—which he set off on alongside his wife and singer James Dupré.

“Randy and I are both on stage. I give a little bit of background as far as the music, the musicians, Randy, the stroke, a song, the AI, of course,” Travis’ wife told the outlet of the tour. “… And then we show videos of Randy’s historical past, as far as some of his joke-telling, which allows people to see the humor that Randy has… And then James Dupre is singing all of the songs, and it’s just kind of a magical night really.”

(Photo by Mark Junge/Getty Images)