Ryan Adams

As a founder of Whiskeytown, a member of the Cardinals, and as a solo artist, Ryan Adams proved himself an inimitable contributor to the alternative country music scene. Adams flourished onstage as a singer and guitarist, as well as behind the scenes as a songwriter and producer. David Ryan Adams was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Adams endured an erratic childhood and dropped out of high school to pursue music fulltime. In 1994, Adams cofounded the alternative country music band Whiskeytown, releasing three albums over the six years to follow. In 2000, Adams branched off on his own, earning notability with solo albums Heartbreaker and Gold. In 2002, Adams performed alongside Elton John on the music series "CMT Crossraods" (CMT 2002-). In 2004, Adams teamed up with the rock band the Cardinals, releasing albums including Cold Roses (2005) and Jacksonville City Nights (2005). In the meantime, Adams contributed to the soundtrack for director Cameron Crowe's film "Elizabethtown" (2005). In 2008, Adams married actress and musician Mandy Moore. (The couple split in 2015.) Following a split with the Cardinals, Adams explored new genres of music, first releasing the metal-tinged album Orion (2010) and the largely acoustic Ashes and Fire (2011). Stepping into the acting game for the first time, Adams appeared as himself in Judd Apatow's dramedy film "This Is 40" (2012), to which he also contributed a number of songs. Continuing to explore new genres, Adams released the punk-inspired EP 1984 (2014) and an atmospheric, electro-tinged album simply called Ryan Adams (2014). The following year, Adams released a song-by-song cover of Taylor Swift's blockbuster 1989, recasting the songs in the style of alternative rock hits from that year. Following a new album of original material, Prisoner (2017), Adams began work on a number of different projects and announced plans to release three new albums in 2019. However, in February of that year, the New York Times published a blockbuster exposé that included interviews with a number of women -- including Adams' ex-wife Moore -- who detailed Adams' sexually abusive and manipulative behavior. The first of his 2019 albums was pulled from the release schedule, with the others remaining in limbo.