CMT Inside Fame   -  About the Episode

Every year, Nashville is inundated with singers from all over the world who dream of becoming country music stars. Only a handful land recording contracts, and even fewer break through to have measurable success. CMT Inside Fame examines the challenges of making it in the music business with Gary Allan, Keith Urban and Andy Griggs. All three talk candidly about their roads -- and detours -- to success. In the early 90s, Urban had already established a successful country music career in his homeland of Australia but dreamed of breaking through in America. He tells CMT, "I felt myself getting to the point in Australia where it could start to get comfortable, and I didn't want that. I wanted to come over here. If I'm going to struggle, I want to struggle in the States." But before breaking through to the top of country music, Urban battled drug addiction. After struggling for years to make it in America, Urban began to lose his battle with cocaine. Urban tells CMT, "I started finding solace in unhealthy things." Allan learned a hard lesson early in his career. He tells CMT, "I was negotiating with a record company when I was 24. I sold my construction company thinking I had a record deal and everything fell apart." He adds, "A lot of things went south for me, and my brother told me I could sell cars until I figured out what I wanted to do." After surviving the ups and downs of the music business and two failed marriages, Allan says he has found balance in his personal and professional life. "I'm definitely living my dream. My dream is to play. All the record companies could close tomorrow, and I'll still be playing in some bar, some place, and I'll still be happy." Griggs didn't come to music until he was 18 after the sudden loss of his brother. Andy's mom, Barbara Knight, tells CMT, "They were best friends. They were each other's best cheerleaders. Andy was the athlete. Mason was the singer." When Andy's brother passed away, he found himself dealing with intense grief and turned to his brother's music. Griggs tells CMT, "I wanted to learn how to play my brother's music. I felt like, 'I'll be darned if I let his music die.'" Knight adds, "Andy felt led to get out the guitar and pick up where Mason left off. And then it grew much further than that."