On this day (October 31) in 1964, Darryl Wade Worley was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Putting a modern twist on the traditionalist movement that grabbed ahold of Nashville in the 1990s, Worley has released five albums that have produced 18 charting singles and three No. 1 hits, including the 2003 post-9/11 ballad “Have You Forgotten?”. A quarter of a century after the devastating attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., country radio stations across the country played “Have You Forgotten?” at exactly 9:11 a.m.
Today, we’re shining a spotlight on Darryl Worley’s life and career in honor of the country singer-songwriter’s 62nd birthday.
About Darryl Worley
The son of a Methodist minister, Darryl Worley grew up in Pyburn, Tennessee. Although descended from a long line of “musicians and moonshiners”, Worley’s original career aspirations were quite different. He hoped to become a doctor.
After graduating from Hardin County High School in 1982, Worley attended the University of North Alabama — not far from the legendary Muscle Shoals music studio. Earning his degree in biology with a minor in organic chemistry, he played the occasional honky-tonk in his spare time.
“You name it, I played ’em all down there,” Worley said. “I could make a list of beer joints as long as my arm. As soon as I graduated from college, I really started hammering away on songwriting.”
His Dad Pushed Him to Pursue Music
Darryl Worley continued playing as he worked in the chemical business and taught school for a year. Still, he found himself torn between establishing financial security and pursuing his musical passions.
Notably, it was his preacher father who nudged him towards the latter.
“One day he said, ‘If you’re still thinking about that music thing you better do it now’,” Worley recalled, “‘because if you don’t, you’ll be trapped by the obligation of the debt and the responsibilities that come with life.’ That was all I needed to hear.”
Soon, he inked a deal with Fame Publishing in Muscle Shoals to write songs for $150 a week. Worley used that as a stepping stone to a deal with EMI Publishing, which took him to Nashville. In 2000, George Jones charted with “Sinners & Saints”, which Worley co-wrote.
Signing with DreamWorks Records in 1999, Worley released his debut studio album, Hard Rain Don’t Last, in July 2000. The first three singles all hit the top 20 of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart — “When You Need My Love, “A Good Day to Run,” and “Second Wind.”
Two years later, Worley followed with his sophomore album I Miss My Friend, reaching the top of the charts for the first time with the title track.
“Have You Forgotten?”
In April 2003, Darryl Worley released his first compilation album, Have You Forgotten? The title track, which he co-wrote with Wynn Varble, is a direct response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Inspiration struck after Worley performed for troops in Kuwait and Afghanistan during a USO tour in 2002.
“My co-writer and myself were talking about the whole thing, and he just stood up and said, ‘It makes you want to just look these people in the eye and say, ‘Have you forgotten?’” Worley told CNN in 2003. “I got chills all over my body because I knew that was the title of the song that we were going to write that day.”
He debuted the song live during a January 2003 performance at the Grand Ole Opry. The song’s popularity spread. And despite some pushback against its perceived pro-war messaging, “Have You Forgotten?” spent seven weeks atop the Hot Country Songs chart, also climbing to No. 22 on the U.S. pop chart.
“It’s probably the easiest song I have ever written because it is absolutely three chords and the truth,” Worley reflected in 2026. “This song made me a better man, a better citizen and a better Christian.”
Where Is He Now?
In early 2005, Darryl Worley notched one more No. 1 hit with “Awful, Beautiful Life”, from his eponymous third studio album. DreamWorks folded shortly after.
Worley stepped back from performing after he and his wife welcomed their first child in 2008. His most recent full-length album, Sounds Like Life, hit shelves in 2009.
He returned to the road in 2021 and continues to tour today.
Featured image by Mickey Bernal/Getty Images
The post Born 62 Years Ago Today in Memphis, the Country Star Whose Post-9/11 Anthem Spent 7 Weeks at No. 1 appeared first on American Songwriter.
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