Jeff Foxworthy was born Sept. 6, 1958, in Atlanta, and grew up there. He was working for IBM when he tried standup on a dare. Before long, he'd quit his job to pursue comedy full-time. His material concentrated mainly on family situations, but it was his affectionate jabs at Southern rednecks (or the "gloriously unsophisticated") that catapulted him to stardom. Originally released on Laughing Hyena in 1993,
You Might Be a Redneck If... became a word-of-mouth hit, and Warner Bros. bought his contract in 1994. With their added promotional muscle,
You Might Be a Redneck If... climbed to No. 3 on the country album charts in 1995, and eventually sold more than four million copies, making it the biggest-selling comedy album of all time. His follow-up album,
Games Rednecks Play, appeared later in 1995, reached No. 2 on the country charts and crossed over to the pop Top 10, selling more than two million copies.
Foxworthy was an undeniably hot commodity, and ABC offered him his own sitcom in 1995. Ratings for
The Jeff Foxworthy Show were disappointing, but when ABC took a pass, NBC picked up the show for an additional season. It was canceled in 1997. Meanwhile, Foxworthy branched out into musical satire on 1996's
Crank It Up: The Music Album. He returned to standup on the 1998 live album
Totally Committed and moved to Dreamworks for 2000's
Big Funny. That same year, he teamed up with Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Larry the Cable Guy for the hugely popular Blue Collar Comedy Tour, which spawned an album of highlights and, in 2003, an accompanying concert film. He released
Have Your Loved Ones Spayed or Neutered in 2004 on Warner Bros., and parlayed his film success into a TV series,
Blue Collar Comedy, on the WB network. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide.
© 2008