What about Ty Hearndon ? I thought he was married with kids.
By DAVID VEITCH
Calgary Sun
Ty Herndon broke down and cried when he received the news two weeks ago: Living in a Moment, the title track of his second album, had shot to No. 1 on the country singles chart.
He had a chart-topping tune the year before with What Matters Most, but the latest one was special because he had just emerged from a particularly unsavory sex-and-drug scandal that many people -- including Herndon -- thought would put a premature end to a promising career.
"You probably couldn't convince me there was a career after I got out of rehab," Herndon admits over the phone. But Sony Music continued to support its artist and put Herndon back in the studio where "we closed the door on that (scandal) and went in to make some good music."
Apparently he succeeded. Living in a Moment -- a virtual carbon-copy of his debut CD, What Mattered Most -- is currently lodged in the top-20 country album charts, while its No. 1 single has been "a stamp of approval from radio," Herndon says.
"The jury's still out on me and every day something good happens to me, I think the tension is easing and people are coming back to the music. And that's all I want."
Still, Herndon, 34, admits it'll take a while before people forget the events of June 13, 1995, when he was arrested in Fort Worth, Tex., on charges of drug possession and indecent exposure. The media reported Herndon masturbated in front of a male undercover cop in a park notorious for male prostitution. Herndon has claimed he was just urinating.
The indecent exposure was dropped in exchange for his pleading guilty to possessing 2* gm of methamphetamine. He was sentenced to five years probation. He also had to perform 200 hours of community service and pay a $1,000 US fine.
The indecent exposure charge continues to be "the toughest part" of the scandal, says Herndon, whose marriage has not quelled rumors that he's gay.
"We do a lot of straightening out in that area," he says.
"Yeah, I was pretty bothered by it at first. But I have a little bit of patience in the area ... because my wife and I certainly have relationships in our lives with people who are gay. So I'm not offended by the fact that someone would say I am gay.... I would never in a million years speak out against any kind of gay or lesbian group."
Although Herndon does not have a writing credit on Living in a Moment, the album does allude to his problems over the past 12 months, particularly on Returning the Faith, a thank-you card to all those people who stood by him in his darkest hour.
Says Herndon: "Everything I went through made me a more in-depth person.... I tried to make the things I learned from a very horrible situation and turned them into a positive and use them on the album."
Still, he's anxious for people to once again concentrate on his music and not on the scandal. "That," he says, "will be a rewarding day."