Birth name Paul Wayne Thorn Instruments Vocals, guitar | Years active 1997–present Name Paul Thorn | |
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Born July 13, 1964 (age 59)
Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. ( 1964-07-13 ) Origin Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S. Genres Americana, Southern rock, Country, Blues, Blues rock Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, boxer Role Singer-songwriter · paulthorn.com Profiles | ||
Paul thorn at workplay complete performance
Paul Wayne Thorn (born July 13, 1964) is a Southern rock, country, Americana, and Blues singer-songwriter whose style is a mix of blues, Country, and rock music.
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Biography
Thorn was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin but raised in Tupelo, Mississippi after a family move when he was an infant.
Before his professional music career began he was a professional boxer. Boxing career highlights include winning the Mid-South Middleweight Championship in Memphis, Tennessee and a nationally televised bout with former world champion Roberto Durán, After a few years of working in a Tupelo furniture factory and playing in local clubs he was discovered by music professional Miles Copeland (brother of The Police drummer Stewart Copeland).
In 1997, while performing at a singer-songwriters night at a local pizza shop (Vanelli’s), Roger Sovine representing BMI overheard Thorn and was impressed with his singing and song writing ability. He asked Thorn if he had his permission to share his name with other record companies in Nashville. A couple weeks later, Thorn called vOz Vanelli (owner of Vanelli’s) and mentioned that several record companies were coming to Tupelo to hear him perform. Thorn asked if he could come and play at Vanelli’s which vOz agreed to. After hearing Thorn perform, Wyatt Easterling (an associate of Miles Copeland III) brought Thorn to Nashville and within thirty days, Thorn opened for Sting. Thorn was subsequently signed to a recording contract with A&M Records and recorded his first album, Hammer & Nail, in 1997. He left A&M soon after and followed Hammer & Nail with thirteen more albums, all self-released and self-produced with his writing and production partner, Billy Maddox.
Thorn's 2010 album Pimps and Preachers debuted at No. 83 on the Billboard 200 chart, his highest chart position to date. His 2012 album What the Hell Is Going On was the 12th Most Played Album of 2012 on the Americana Music Association Year-End Chart. What the Hell Is Going On was Thorn's first album to feature the songwriting of other artists and the second record of his to debut on the Billboard Top 100 during its first week of release.
Thorn has toured as an opening act for Huey Lewis & the News, Sting, John Prine, Marianne Faithfull, Mark Knopfler, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, Toby Keith and Jeff Beck, Jerry Jeff Walker.
In 2014, Thorn released Too Blessed to Be Stressed, which he described as a collection of "positive anthem songs." "I wrote these songs hoping they might put people in a positive mindset and encourage them to count their own blessings, like I count mine," Thorn observes. "There's no higher goal I could set for myself than to help other people find some happiness and gratitude in their lives."