Gary Allan began playing in honky tonks in his native Southern California at the ripe old age of 12 with his dad's band. Eventually, Allan followed started his own band and returned to those same honky tonks with his own sound that was true Bakersfield country, ala Merle Haggard.

Allan spent most of his twenties honing his skills as a new traditionalist country singer. Finally, in 1996, he was picked up by the Decca-Nashville label and his first album, [Used Heart for Sale] was released that year. Two years later, his second album, [It Would Be You,] came out.

In 1999, Decca closed its doors. However, Allan's contract was picked up by MCA-Nashville, which released his [Smoke Rings in the Dark] album later that year. The album combined most of what Allan did best, dusty honky tonk and country ballads. The album even included a rousing cover of the Del Shannon classic, "Runaway," which harkened back to Allan's younger days on the honky tonk circuit.

With 2001's, [Alright Guy,] an accomplished mix of driving, dusty swagger and slow-burn croon, Allan proved that he was only getting better with age. Its single, "Man to Man," became the singer's first number one hit. Allan toured extensively in support of [Alright Guy] before beginning work on a follow-up album.

[See If I Care] appeared in September of 2003, it was another solid set of Bakersfield-derived country. His next album, [Tough All Over,] a Top Ten hit, arrived in 2005. A greatest-hits collection was issued early in 2007, followed by a new studio project, [Living Hard,] later in the year.

DISCOGRAPHY: Albums: Studio albums: Peak Chart Positions & RIAA Certifications

Year / Album / US Country / US Top 200 / US Heat / CAN Country / Certs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1996 / [Used Heart for Sale] / 20 / 136 / 4 / - / Gold 1998 / [It Would Be You] / 21 / 132 / - / - / No Certification 1999 / [Smoke Rings in the Dark] / 9 / 84 / - / 13 / Platinum 2001 / [Alright Guy] / 4 / 39 / - / * / Platinum 2003 / [See If I Care] / 2 / 17 / - / * / Platinum 2005 / [Tough All Over] / 1 / 3 / - / * / Gold 2007 / [Living Hard] / 3 / 3 / - / 13 / Gold 2010 / [Get Off on the Pain] / To be released: February 2, 2010

Compilation albums: Peak Chart Positions & RIAA Certifications Year / Album / US Country / US Top 200 / CAN Country / Certs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2007 / Greatest Hits / 1 / 5 / 6 / Gold

Singles: Peak Chart Positions Year / Album / US Country / US Hot 100 / US Pop / CAN Country / Album --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1996 / "Her Man" / 7 / - / - / 9 / [Used Heart for Sale] 1997 / "Forever and a Day" / 44 / - / - / 75 / [Used Heart for Sale] 1997 / "From Where I'm Sitting" / 43 / - / - / 78 / [Used Heart for Sale] 1997 / "Living in a House Full of Love" / 43 / - / - / 63 / [Used Heart for Sale] 1998 / "It Would Be You" / 7 / 101 / - / 23 / [It Would Be You] 1998 / "No Man in His Wrong Heart" / 43 / - / - / 74 / [It Would Be You] 1998 / "I'll Take Today" / 47 / - / - / 70 / [It Would Be You] 1999 / "Smoke Rings in the Dark" / 12 / 76 / - / 5 / [Smoke Rings in the Dark] 2000 / "Lovin' You Against My Will" / 34 / - / - / 30 / [Smoke Rings in the Dark] 2000 / "Right Where I Need to Be" / 5 / 42 / - / * / [Smoke Rings in the Dark] 2001 / "Man of Me" / 18 / 107 / - / * / [Alright Guy] 2002 / "The One" / 3 / 37 / - / * / [Alright Guy] 2002 / "Man to Man" / 1 / 25 / - / * / [Alright Guy] 2003 / "Tough Little Boys" / 1 / 32 / - / * / [See If I Care] 2003 / "Songs About Rain" / 12 / 71 / - / * / [See If I Care] 2004 / "Nothing On but the Radio" / 1 / 32 / - / 6 / [See If I Care] 2005 / "Best I Ever Had" / 7 / 51 / 55 / 13 / - [Tough All Over] 2006 / "Life Ain't Always Beautiful" / 4 / 61 / - / 20 / [Tough All Over] 2006 / "A Feelin' Like That" / 12 / 94 / - / 15 / [Greatest Hits] 2007 / "Watching Airplanes" / 2 / 43 / 80 / 11 / [Living Hard] 2008 / "Learning How to Bend" / 13 / 96 / - / 23 / [Living Hard] 2008 / "She's So California" / 24 / - / - / - / [Living Hard] 2009 / "Today" / Positions to be announced / [Get Off on the Pain] "-" Denotes releases that did not chart. "*" Denotes unknown peak positions.

Other charted songs: These songs charted on the Hot Country Songs charts without being officially released: Year / Single / US Country / Album --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1997 / "Please Come Home for Christmas" / 70 / [Christmas Cookies] 2000 / "Runaway" / 74 / [Smoke Rings in the Dark]

Music videos: Year / Video / Director --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1996 / "Her Man" / Gerry Wenner 1997 / "Forever and a Day" / Guy Guillet 1997 / "From Where I'm Sitting" / Charley Randazzo 1998 / "It Would Be You" / Gerry Wenner 1998 / "I'll Take Today" / Chris Rogers 1999 / "Smoke Rings in the Dark" / Chris Rogers 2000 / "Lovin' You Against My Will" / Eric Welch 2001 / "Right Where I Need to Be" / Chris Rogers 2001 / "Man of Me" / Morgan Lawley 2002 / "The One" / Morgan Lawley 2003 / "Tough Little Boys" / Morgan Lawley 2004 / "Songs About Rain" / Morgan Lawley 2005 / "Best I Ever Had" / Paul Boyd 2006 / "Life Ain't Always Beautiful" / Paul Boyd 2007 / "Watching Airplanes" / Stephen Shepherd 2008 / "Learning How to Bend" / Stephen Shepherd