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Though many singers take their health for granted, Josh Turner is thankful every time he steps onto a stage. Born Joshua Otis Turner, the South Carolina native began singing in a church choir from the age of 8, and formed his first band Thankful Hearts while still in high school. A popular regional gospel quartet, Turner remained in Thankful Hearts after high school, studying for a time at Francis Marion University, but the group dissolved when Josh was diagnosed with a lesion on his right vocal chord in 1996.

Vocal damage can ruin a singer’s career, but Josh got lucky. Voice experts from Vanderbilt University recommended that Josh quit singing for a time to speed up the natural healing process; after taking a year off his voice improved dramatically. Still itching to pursue a musical career, Josh began taking vocal classes in his free time and moved to Nashvile, Tennessee to study music at Belmont University, a renowned liberal arts college that has produced a number of successful country singers, with Trisha Yearwood and Brad Paisley among notable alumni.

Brad’s big break in occurred in 2003, when his single "Long Black Train" climbed to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs index. The lead track of his first album of the same name released later that year, Brad made waves in the country music scene with his deep, expressive voice and neotraditional musical stylings, inviting comparisons to county greats like Randy Travis and Billy Ray Cyrus. Long Black Train went on to sell over a million copies in the United States alone.

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