page_title: Gary Allan
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Gary Allan / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: English: Gary Allan exiting the stage for the final time at the Inn of The Mountain Gods Casino and Resort in Mescalaro, NM.
context_page_description: Gary Allan Herzberg is an American country music artist. Signed to Decca Records in 1996, Allan made his country music debut with the release of his single "Her Man", the lead-off to his gold-certified debut album Used Heart for Sale, which was released in 1996 on Decca. His second album, It Would Be You, followed in 1998. Allan's third album, Smoke Rings in the Dark, was his first one for MCA Nashville and his first platinum album. His next albums, Alright Guy and See If I Care, both were also certified platinum while Tough All Over and Greatest Hits and Living Hard were all certified gold. His next two albums Get Off on the Pain and Set You Free both reached the Top 10 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums charts, at numbers 2 and 1 respectively.
  Overall, Allan's nine studio and greatest hits albums have produced 26 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, including the number one hits "Man to Man", "Tough Little Boys", "Nothing On but the Radio", and "Every Storm".
context_section_description: Gary Allan Herzberg was born and raised in La Mirada, California, to Harley and Mary Herzberg. To ensure that the family would focus on music, Allan's mother insisted that the family's guitars would always remain visible in the home.  At age 13, Allan began playing in honky tonks with his father. Two years later, he was offered his first recording contract, from A&M Records, but rejected the deal.  His parents wanted him to finish his education and his father felt that Allan had yet to develop his own distinctive style. Despite his commitment to finishing school, Allan reflects that he was rarely alert in class. "I played the bars at night, I was half asleep when I got to school. I thought sleep was what you did when you go to school."
  After graduating from La Serna High School in Whittier, California, Allan continued to play in the bars with his band, the Honky Tonk Wranglers. Many of the venues they played were packed, and promoters often tried to move them to larger clubs. The moves would have required him to stop playing some of the older country music, such as covers of George Jones songs, so Allan refused.
  In 1987, Gary married his first wife, Tracy Taylor.  They have since divorced. He married model Danette Day on November 28, 1998, in South Carolina and they divorced in June 1999. His third wife, Angela (whom he wed on June 5, 2001), died by suicide on October 25, 2004.
caption: Gary Allan exits stage in Mescalaro, New Mexico
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