Ty Herndon Signs With New Label, Releases Duet With LeAnn Rimes

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Ty Herndon has inked a new three-album deal with Club44 Records, launching the partnership with a reimagined duet of his 1995 breakout hit “What Mattered Most” featuring LeAnn Rimes.

The single marks the first release from Herndon’s upcoming album via Club44, Thirty, a career-spanning celebration of his 30 years in country music. “What Mattered Most” quickly shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart when it was originally released and the song’s runaway success earned him an ACM nomination for Top New Male Vocalist and launched a career that would include four chart-topping hits, a Grammy nomination, and Dove Awards.

“Recording this song with LeAnn was nothing short of magical,” says Herndon. “She and I go back three decades — we were touring together in the ’90s when her career exploded and she used to come out on stage and sing this song with me. So all these years later, re-recording it as a duet, was a full-circle moment I’ll never forget. Her voice brings depth and beauty to the song, which is breathtaking. We’ve both lived a lot of life since then, and I think you can hear that in every note.”

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Thirty will feature newly-recorded versions of Herndon’s most iconic hits, reinterpreted as collaborations with an all-star lineup of musical guests. The project offers both a tribute to Herndon’s past and a powerful step forward for the enduring artist. The album’s release date will be announced later this summer.

Between 1995 and 2002, Herndon charted 17 singles, including a string of Top 10 favorites such as “I Want My Goodbye Back,” “Loved Too Much,” “A Man Holding On,” and “Hands of a Working Man.” He reached the top of the charts again in 1996 with “Living in a Moment” and in 1998 with “It Must Be Love.” Over the following decade, Herndon continued to break new ground with the release of a Greatest Hits collection and the albums Right About Now, Lies I Told Myself, and the Grammy-nominated Journey On.

In 2015, he made history as the first major male country artist to come out as gay, and has since released the albums House on Fire and Got It Covered, as well as launching the annual Concert for Love & Acceptance. His 2022 album JACOB featured the singles “Till You Get There” and “Dents on a Chevy,” a duet with Terri Clark that spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the independent country charts, becoming the top independent country single of 2023.

Lorie Hollabaugh
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