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Welcome To Fetchen Gretchen
Country Music's Hottest Female Was
Here For The Party... Now She's
All Jacked Up 
GRETCHEN WILSON Released All Jacked Up Sept. 27th, 2005.
4X Platinum Here For The Party Was Released In Mid 2004.
All Jacked Up includes twelve songs, seven of which were written
or co-written by Gretchen, all produced by Sony Nashville
Executive VP A&R Mark Wright, recording artist John Rich
and Gretchen Wilson. Knowing how busy 2005 would be touring with Kenny Chesney on the sold-out Somewhere In The Sun Tour,
Gretchen spent all of January and many subsequent weeks
in the studio laying down tracks for All Jacked Up.
Songs from the album include the rousing "All Jacked Up" title track, "Skoal Ring," "California Girls" and "Politically Uncorrect,"
which features vocals from the legendary Merle Haggard.
As a bonus cut, Gretchen is including a unique version of
"Good Morning Heartache" from one of her favorite singers,
Billie Holiday. All Jacked Up was simultaneously released
in Canada and Australia - where Here for the Party
is certified Platinum - and to other countries at a later date.
In the last year Gretchen has made two extensive tours
of Australia and Europe for live performances and high-profile
media solidifying her status as a worldwide sensation.
Gretchen has already made numerous television appearances
this year including performances on the Super Bowl Pre-Game Show,
the Grammys, the CMT Music Awards and a high-profile feature
on CNN's "People In The News." And a second appearance on
"The Today Show". The critically-acclaimed Here For The Party
debuted at #2 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart and
#1 on the Country Albums chart and placed her in the record books
for the accomplishment. The album went on to spend a record
nine weeks atop the Country Albums Chart and has sold in excess
of four million copies. Her first single "Redneck Woman"
spent a record six weeks at #1. She wrapped up 2004
as the top selling debut artist of any genre.
Gretchen's songs have reached well beyond US borders,
earning the powerhouse vocalist worldwide success.
GretchenWilson.com SONY MUSIC NASHVILLE and the Sony Music Nashville logo are trademarks of, and are used under license from, Sony Corporation. Copyright © 2005 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. All rights reserved.
Gretchen Exploded On The Charts With "AJU". Gretchen made history
once again when she released The title track from "AJU".
All Jacked Up, debuted on the R&R Country Top 50 chart at #24.
It marks the 2nd highest debut for a country female singer in history.
Shania Twain still has the highest debut ever from a female singer, with "I'm Gonna Getcha Good" from October of 2002.
CHEERS FOR GRET
P.S. LUV THAT DEBUT NUMBER ... 24!
photo copyright© sony music
Gretchen was born in Granite City, Illinois, on June, 26th, 1973,and grew up in Pocahontas located just 36 miles east of St.Louis along Interstate 70.
Gretchen's mother was sixteen at the time and was a waitress in a local diner. Gretchen grew up in trailer parks and her Mother moved several times during Gret's young years. Life was'nt glamorous for Gretchen and by the time she was 14, she was workin as a cook and bartender in the same club where her mother worked. By the age of 15, she was living on her own and by & age 20, she was singing in two different bands.
Long before karaoke machines,Gretchen was up on stage every night at Big O's, a rough and tumble kicker bar five miles outta town,with a microphone and sang along to various CD's for tips. Atfer all, the extra $20.00 came in handy when it came to putting food on the table. Before long, singing to CD's became a thing of the past and so was serving drinks.
Gretchen found herself fronting for a band for the first time and then she began to think that there was a life for her outside her little town. "Each man creates his own destiny," she believes. "It's up to you what you're gonna do with your life. It's not up to anyone else." "Taking control of her own destiny, Gretchen had bigger plans than spending the rest of her life singing in a cover band.
Gretchen's unceremonious arrival in Nashville in 1996 became reality real quick for a small town girl. It became apparent to her that she was'nt going to be able to make a living and pay bills working on broadway. She became discouraged after a brief encounter with a local musician, which she happened to notice at a Nashville Music Store.
She thought long and hard about how to go about realizing her dream. "I looked at him," she recalls, "and said, 'I'm brand new to town. What's my first step? How do I do this?' He pretty much laughed at me and said something that did'nt make sense. He said, 'well, you have to create a buzz.' I thought,'what the hell good does that do me?" It would take her four long years to figure out what he meant and, in the meantime, she did the one thing she knew how to do in order to make ends meet and that was gettin her first job. It may not have been what she had envisioned, but it beat packing up and going home.
Gretchen hung onto her dreams and worked hard as she was now caring for a daughter, slinging drinks, and singing every time she could get on stage. It was'nt easy but with her determination and strong will, things were about to pay off in a big way,only she did'nt know it yet! Gretchen was singing in Printers Alley at the Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie Bar as a bartender, while caring for her daughter Grace Frances Penner. She would sing with the house band when time permitted and one nite while performing, Big Kenny and John Rich stopped in to have a few cocktails and heard Gretchen singing. That was basically all it took for them to recognize her talent.
Gretchen and John talked and she gave him a demo & bussiness card. Although John tried on several occassions to contact Gretchen, she reluctantly refused to answer or return his calls, til one day,, someone told her,, call him and see what happens! Well what happened was the start of a beautiful friendship between two artists & songwriters. Gretchen joined John's circle of friends and became a member of the "muzik Mafia", which consists of a group of singer/songwriters & musicians who got together to jam(and party) every tuesday in a local Nashville nightspot. Gretchen has written or co-written almost 100 tunes. Gretchen later got a record deal with Sony Music Nashville.
Gretchen refers to John Rich as "being like a brother". She went on to say " he just knows me so well, that it's almost like I'm writing with myself, he knows who I am and what I want to say." Not since loretta Lynn and Perhaps Dolly Parton has a female artist in country music been so brutally honest in song about her own lifestyle and the people around her. " What I'm doing has definitly been done before, it just has'nt been done in a long time," Gretchen said. " It's not perfect and it's not glamorous." " I had to struggle here she said."
Gretchen was influenced by Tanya Tucker, Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline to name a few. In late May 2004, Gretchen's debut single "Redneck Woman" became the 1st by a solo female singer to top the Billboard Country charts since Terri Clark two years prior. It also reached #1 faster than any single in the previous decade! At the same time, Her debut cd "Here For The Party", entered the country album chart at #1 and the pop album chart at #2 with sales of 227,000 copies. This was the biggest opening week for a new country artist on record! Gretchen wrapped up 2004 as the top selling debut artist of any genre & "Here For The Party" landed on numerous year end top album lists including Rolling Stone, People, Time, Blender and others. Entertainment Weekly ranked her at #8 on their top 12 entertainers of the yearlist.
On March 9th,2005, "Here For The Party" was certified Quadruple Platinum! (4 MILLION UNITS SOLD!) Gretchen earned 3 top 5 singles, A CMA Award, A CMT Award, An AMA Award, 2 Billboard Music Awards & A Grammy Award. Quiet an achievement since her debut album hit stores May 11th 2004. Gretchen was also listed in Playboy Magazine's annual reader's poll as Best Country Artist in 2004
On April 11th 2005, Gretchen won two awards at the CMT Awards show for Breakthough video for "Redneck Woman" and Female Video for "When I Think About Cheatin".
If you're ever in Pocahontas, Illinois, be sure and stop by The Gretchen Wilson Park.
