He was a Florida teenager blasting Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones — then became one of the most unmistakable voices in new traditionalist country music. John Anderson's road to country legend status began on a construction crew, literally nailing the roof onto the Grand Ole Opry house before he ever sang inside it.

His 1983 smash Swingin' became the biggest-selling record in Warner Bros. history, yet within 36 months Nashville's unforgiving machine had dropped him. Anderson answered with one of country music's greatest comebacks: 1992's Seminole Wind went double platinum and made the industry recognize him not as a competitor, but as an architect of the genre.

• Moved to Nashville in 1971, crashing unannounced at his sister's house

• Roofed the Grand Ole Opry by day while grinding smoky clubs at night

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