From cook to country star, Randy Travis celebrates 40th anniversary

He fried catfish in the honky tonk's kitchen.

He went by Randy Ray then. He would ask for a break from his cooking duties, take off his apron and take the stage with the Nashville Palace's house band.

It was the early 1980s when the young man who the world would come to know as Randy Travis began unleashing his baritone pipes on country songs. Barrett Hobbs, the grandson of the Nashville Palace owner John A. Hobbs, remembers hearing Travis for the first time.

"He took traditional country music to another level," Hobbs said.

On June 3, the Nashville Palace, now in a honky tonk about 100 yards from its former site, formally named its front bar "The Randy Travis Room" to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Travis' first album, "Storms of Life."

Travis was there smiling, posing for pictures, shaking hands. His voice has been all-but silenced since he suffered a stroke in 2013, but he took the microphone and said, "Thank you" when the ribbon was cut on the newly named room.

"I don't think he knew the hurricane he was creating," said Mary Travis, Randy's wife, who handles his interviews. "He had no idea that his music would travel so far and so wide."

The Nashville Palace was filled with Randy Travis friends and fans. The Palace Band, led by Becky Hinson, played all the Travis hits, including an all-star version of "Forever and Ever, Amen" that included country singer/actor Drake Milligan and gangsta rapper Waka Flocka Flame.

While many country singers were chasing pop music radio play, Travis "was a breath of fresh air singing traditional country music," Hinson said. "And now, he's a real influence on a lot of young people in the business."

In the mid-1980s, the theory was that if Randy Travis, the cook who sang occasionally, could sell 40,000 albums, they might ask him to make a second.

"Storms of Life" sold almost 4 million units, and went platinum within a year. That album had four top 10 country hits: "On the Other Hand," "Diggin' Up Bones," "1982" and "No Place Like Home."

He followed up that album with "Forever and Ever, Amen." He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016. He has made 20 studio albums and more than 50 singles that hit the Billboard Hot Country charts, including 16 No. 1s. He has won seven Grammy Awards and 11 Academy of Country Music Awards.

Steve Hill, who was the Nashville Palace band leader when Travis got his start, remembers the incredible list of singers that were just starting out. Travis was joined by Lorrie Morgan, Ricky Van Shelton and Alan Jackson.

"Randy was a great singer and a nice guy," Hill said. "Everybody loved him."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee proclaimed June 2 (the 40th anniversary of the "Storms of Life" release date) as "Randy Travis Day" in Nashville.

Mary Travis said Randy enjoys hearing his songs performed. He sat near the stage at the Nashville Palace accepting congratulations and smiling.

Mary Travis said she remembers when he was 99 pounds after his stroke and drinking milkshakes to try to gain weight. She said he devoured "chocolate, vanilla and any kind" of shakes.

"Now he's at his fighting weight," she said. Aside from the wheelchair, he looked remarkably similar to the Randy Travis who appeared on the album cover 40 years ago. The only thing missing was the old truck from the album cover.

Mary Travis said he has a pink and white 59 Chevy truck that he calls "Country Girl" at his home in Texas.

"He's full of humility," Mary Travis said. "So many people could be bitter, but he got better."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Palace dedicates room to Randy Travis who was once a cook