Terri Lynn Sauson, known professionally as Terri Clark (born August 5, 1968) is a Canadian country music singer who has had success in both Canada and the United States. Signed to Mercury Records in 1995, she released her self-titled debut that year. Both it and its two follow-ups, 1996's Just the Same and 1998's How I Feel, were certified platinum in both countries, and produced several Top Ten country hits.
Her fourth album, 2000's Fearless, though certified gold in Canada, was not as successful in the U.S., producing no Top 10 hits. Pain to Kill from 2003 restored her chart momentum in the U.S. with "I Just Wanna Be Mad" and "I Wanna Do It All", while a 2004 greatest hits album produced the Number One "Girls Lie Too". A non-album single, "The World Needs a Drink", and the 2005 album Life Goes On were her last releases for Mercury before she signed to BNA Records in 2007. There, she released the singles "Dirty Girl" and "In My Next Life". Although the latter went to Number One in Canada, she has not released an album for BNA.
Clark's albums have accounted for more than twenty singles, including six Number Ones. "If I Were You", "Poor Poor Pitiful Me",[1] "Emotional Girl" and "In My Next Life" all topped the country charts in Canada (the former three were also U.S. Top Ten singles), "Girls Lie Too" reached number one only in the U.S., and "You're Easy on the Eyes" was number one in both countries.
Clark was born Terri Lynn Sauson on August 5, 1968, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her family eventually settled in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where she was raised. She is the second of four children: she has a younger brother, Peter, an older sister, Kim, and younger sister, Tina. Clark's grandparents, Ray and Betty Gauthier, were both noted Canadian country musicians, having opened for artists such as George Jones and Johnny Cash.[3] Clark's mother, Linda, had belonged to the Canadian folk scene. Her parents divorced when she was young and her mother remarried, with Terri taking on her stepfather's last name.
By high school, Clark had grown to love country music and worked at a local Chinese restaurant to save money to move to Nashville, Tennessee.[3] After graduating from Crescent Heights High School in 1987, she moved to Nashville where she got her start playing at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, a honky-tonk bar across the alley from Nashville's iconic Ryman Auditorium. At that time, country music executives were largely uninterested in traditional country, but record producer and singer Keith Stegall gave Clark advice and encouragement to not give up.[3] In 1994, Stegall became an executive at PolyGram/Mercury Records in Nashville and promptly signed Clark to a record deal.[3]
1995–1997: Terri Clark and Just the Same
In 1995, Clark issued her first single, "Better Things to Do." The song managed to reach the top five in both the United States and Canada. Her debut album, Terri Clark, followed shortly after. Clark had a hand in writing or co-writing 11 of the album's 12 tracks. Terri Clark also featured the singles "When Boy Meets Girl," "If I Were You," and "Suddenly Single." "If I Were You" became Clark's first No.1 in Canada in June 1996. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in the United States on April 5, 1996, and Platinum on July 29, 1997.
In 1996, Clark's second studio album, Just the Same, was issued following the album's first single, "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," a cover of the 1976 Warren Zevon song. The song and its second single, "Emotional Girl," reached number one in Canada with both songs reaching the top ten in the United States. During late 1996, Clark was awarded Single of the Year for "Better Things to Do" and Album of the Year for Terri Clark by the Canadian Country Music Association. By 1997 she would also be awarded the Fans' Choice Award, an award she would win six more times between 2001 and 2007, and Female Artist of the Year, and award she would also claim in 2004 and 2005.
In March 1998, Clark visited Calgary, Alberta, Canada to film her first television special, Terri Clark: Coming Home, which premiered March 27 on CBC in Canada.[4] During the special Clark was visited by Canadian country singers Paul Brandt and George Fox.[4]
1998–2001: How I Feel and Fearless
Clark's third studio album, How I Feel, was issued in May 1998. The album's lead single, "Now That I Found You," reached the top five in both the United States and Canada. It was the album's second single, "You're Easy on the Eyes," that gave Clark's first American No.1, the song also reached No.1 in Canada. "You're Easy on the Eyes" became a minor Top 40 hit, peaking at No.40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. To promote the new album, Clark was added as the opening act for Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn 1998 tour.[5]
Fearless, Clark's fourth studio album, was issued in September 2000. During the album's production, Clark started writing more personal songs with a new team of co-writers and hired a new producer to deliver a set of songs with a more acoustic feel than that of her previous work.[6] The album's first single, "A Little Gasoline", was a late addition to the album because Mercury executives felt Clark needed to balance her new material with something that had a more familiar feel to it.[6] The song reached the top ten in Canada, however, only reaching No.13 in the United States.
On May 2, 2001, Clark was pulled over by police for speeding in Nashville. The officer, who pulled Clark over, had suspected that she had consumed alcohol and asked her to do sobriety test, after which Clark refused and was charged with a DUI and implied consent.[7] Clark later apologized for the incident through a statement that was issued to press by her publicist.[7] In August, Clark pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless driving and was fined $350 plus court costs, placed on six months' supervised probation and ordered to take an alcohol education course.[8]
2002–2004: Pain to Kill and Greatest Hits 1994-2004
After a management change in December 2001, Clark began work on her fifth studio album, Pain to Kill. The album was issued in January 2003, followed after the release of the album's first single, "I Just Wanna Be Mad". The song, written by Kelley Lovelace and Lee Thomas Miller, was initially intended to be recorded by Sara Evans, who passed on it.[9] When released as a single the song became Clark's highest-charting single in the United States since 1998's "You're Easy on the Eyes" and is to date Clark's highest appearance on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No.27. The album marked the first time Clark had worked with producer Byron Gallimore, who produced the first half of the album.[10] The other half was produced by Clark's longtime producer Keith Stegall, who was brought in when Gallimore became unavailable.[10]
In early 2004, Clark was approached by Playboy magazine to pose—clothed—for the cover of the magazine's upcoming May issue.[11] Clark, who came in second place behind fellow Canadian country singer Shania Twain in a poll in the previous year, turned down the offer saying "I think of all the young girls who come to my shows, I think of those faces, I think of my mother, and I worry about the signal [sex] sends to them[…] If I’m sexy enough for Playboy to want me with my clothes on, then I hope the message can be that sexy is about what’s between your ears, in your heart and your smile."[11]
On May 15, 2004, during a performance of the Grand Ole Opry, Clark was surprised by Steve Wariner and her mother Linda with an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry. Clark was officially inducted on June 12, 2004, and is currently the only female Canadian member of the Grand Ole Opry.[12][13] Shortly after her induction, Clark's first greatest hits album, Greatest Hits 1994–2004, was issued. The album's only single, "Girls Lie Too", became Clark's first number one in the United States since 1998's "You're Easy on the Eyes". While the song did not reach number one in Canada, it was the named number one country song of 2004 in Canada by Radio & Records. A non-album single, "The World Needs a Drink" (which was co-written by a then-unknown Eric Church), was released in late 2004, but was not included on any of Clark's studio albums.
2005–2010: Life Goes On and The Long Way Home
In 2005, Clark's sixth studio album, Life Goes On, was issued in November. The album's first single, "She Didn't Have Time", only managed to reach No.25 in the United States and No.15 in Canada. None of the album's other singles charted in the United States and Clark parted ways with Mercury Records in March 2006.
In June 2006, Clark signed with BNA Records, a division of Sony BMG label group, now known as Sony Music Entertainment. Clark's first single for the label, "Dirty Girl", was issued in early 2007. The song was then followed by "In My Next Life", which was to be the title track to her debut BNA release. Clark, along with Canadian country band Emerson Drive, opened for Big & Rich in Canada, hoping to promote the new album.[14] The album was scheduled for an August 7, 2007 release.[15]My Next Life was delayed several times and remained unreleased leaving Clark to part ways with BNA in November 2008, so she could concentrate more on her career in Canada and possibly launch her own record label.[16]
Clark released a live album, Terri Clark Live: Road Rage, via Clark's own BareTrack Records label in July 2009 through digital retailers. Clark's seventh studio album, The Long Way Home, was released shortly after to all retailers in Canada and digital retailers in the United States on September 1, 2009, via BareTrack/Capitol Nashville/EMI Canada. The album was released to non-digital retailers in the United States on October 20, 2009.
Signing autographs in February 2010
The first single issued from the album was "Gypsy Boots", a song previously recorded for Clark's unreleased My Next Life album. The single was released to country radio in Canada on June 22, 2009, and country radio in the United States on July 20. The video for "Gypsy Boots," directed by Margaret Malandruccolo, was released in Canada on August 6, 2009, and is available for online viewing at Clark's site. "If You Want Fire", "A Million Ways To Run" and "You Tell Me" have been issued as follow up singles in Canada.
2011–2013: Roots and Wings and Classic
Clark released her eighth studio album, Roots and Wings, on July 26, 2011. It includes "Smile", a song she wrote for her mom after her death due to a long battle with cancer. The album's lead off single, "Northern Girl," was released on April 18, 2011. "We're Here for a Good Time," "The One," and "Wrecking Ball," were all also released as singles from the album.
2014–present: Some Songs, Raising the Bar, and Take Two
Clark's tenth studio album, Some Songs, was produced by Michael Knox. It was released on September 2, 2014, and includes ten songs.[citation needed] The album was funded through PledgeMusic and was distributed by Clark's own BareTrack Records and Universal Music Canada. The album's first single, "Some Songs", shipped to Canadian country radio on May 26.
As of the April 9/10 weekend in 2016, Terri became the new hostess of the Saturday night classic country program Country Gold, replacing Randy Owen. Clark will depart the show August 31, 2024.[21]
On March 29, 2024, it was announced that Clark had recorded a new album, set to be released on May 31. Titled Terri Clark: Take Two, the album features a collection of Clark's past hits recorded as duets with modern day country artists. The first single was a new version of "Better Things to Do" with Clark's close friend Ashley McBryde.[23]
Personal life
Clark was previously married to fiddle player Ted Stevenson in 1991. The couple filed for divorce in 1996. Nine years later, Clark married her tour manager Greg Kaczor on September 17, 2005. The couple's wedding was documented on In the Moment, a TV series broadcast on CMT in December 2005.[24] The couple filed for divorce on February 16, 2007.
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Terri Clark is the first album by Canadian country music artist Terri Clark. It was released on August 8, 1995, via Mercury Nashville. Clark signed with Mercury in 1994 after meeting with label executive Keith Stegall. Recording took place in studios across Nashville. Clark wrote or co-wrote all but one song on the album.
Life Goes On is the sixth studio album by Canadian country music singer Terri Clark. It was released on November 1, 2005 by Mercury Nashville. The album was originally supposed to be titled Honky Tonk Songs and was scheduled for an April 2005 release, with its lead being "The World Needs a Drink". The album was later delayed, with the supposed lead single being scrapped from Life Goes On. The album was Clark's final release for Mercury Records after the album underperformed expectations.
Canadian country music artist Terri Clark has released 12 studio albums, 1 live album, 3 compilation albums, 27 music videos and 43 singles. In 1994, she signed her first recording contract with Mercury Nashville Records. Her self-titled debut studio album was released in 1995. Its first three singles became top 10 hits on both the Billboard and Canadian country charts: "Better Things to Do", "When Boy Meets Girl", and "If I Were You". Clark's second studio album Just the Same was released in 1996. "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" was issued as the lead single, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In 1998, Clark's third studio album How I Feel was released. The album spawned four singles including "You're Easy on the Eyes", which topped both the American and Canadian country charts. How I Feel would also become Clark's third album to certify platinum in sales from the RIAA and the MC.
The discography of American country music artist Lorrie Morgan contains 19 studio albums, nine compilation albums, two video albums, one live album, one extended play, 51 singles and 21 music videos. Morgan early releases were singles that reached lower-charting positions on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Morgan's 1988 single, "Trainwreck of Emotion", was her first to reach the Billboard country top 20. It was followed by her debut studio album in 1989 named Leave the Light On. It reached number six on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and certified platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America. The disc spawned three more top ten singles: "Dear Me", "Out of Your Shoes" and "He Talks to Me". Its fourth single, "Five Minutes", topped the Billboard country chart. Her second album was released in 1991 titled Something in Red. It reached number eight on the country albums chart and number 13 on the Canadian RPM Country Albums chart. In addition to certifying platinum by the RIAA, the disc included three top ten Billboard and RPM country songs: "We Both Walk", "A Picture of Me Without You" and "Except for Monday".
"I Just Wanna Be Mad" is a song written by Kelley Lovelace and Lee Thomas Miller and recorded by Canadian country music artist Terri Clark. The song was released on August 19, 2002, as the lead single to her fifth studio album Pain to Kill (2003) through Mercury Nashville. The song was originally offered to John Michael Montgomery, but he passed on it.
"I Wanna Do It All" is a song by Canadian country music artist Terri Clark, recorded for her fifth studio album Pain to Kill (2003). The song was written by Tim Nichols, Rick Giles, and Gilles Godard and produced by Byron Gallimore. The song was released on August 18, 2003 as the third and final single from the album to country radio through Mercury Nashville. The song lyrically is about what someone would do if they can get away from all their problems.
"Three Mississippi" is a song recorded by Canadian country music artist Terri Clark. The song was written by Angelo Petraglia, Hillary Lindsey, and Troy Verges and produced by Byron Gallimore. It was released on March 10, 2003, as the second single from Clark's fifth studio album Pain to Kill (2003). It was initially planned to be the lead single from the album.
Ashley Dyan McBryde is an American country music singer–songwriter. She grew up in Arkansas and she was drawn to various types of music from a young age. She also developed a passion for writing songs and later moved to Nashville to pursue a music career.
My Next Life was a planned studio album by Canadian country music artist Terri Clark, intended to be released in August 2007 through BNA Records. The ultimately shelved project was produced by Garth Fundis.
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