Jimmy wayne barber biography for kids

Featured Article:Foster child turned country music star walks across America to raise awareness for Homeless Youth

Published in May/June, 2010 by Emily Shenk

Jimmy Wayne, a 37-year-old rising country music star, didn’t always have a spotlight shining over him. His dark childhood was marked with abuse, abandonment, and instability. With his mother in and out of prison, he bounced around a series of foster homes, ultimately becoming homeless as a teenager. His life began to turn around when a North Carolina couple named Russell and Beatrice Costner gave him a stable home and a chance to start over. He used their support–and the solace of a guitar–to bolster himself into a successful music career. Since 2003, several of his songs–including “Stay Gone,” “I Love You This Much,” and “Do You Believe Me Now”–have soared to the Top Ten on the Billboard country charts.

On New Year’s Day, Wayne embarked on a six-month walk halfway across America, from Nashville, Tennessee, to Phoenix, Arizona. He launched the Meet Me Halfway campaign to raise awareness for homeless youth. He spoke to Children’s Voice in the early morning from Canyon, Texas, just before beginning his day’s walk up Route 66 heading toward Albuquerque, New Mexico.

How did you decide to start your Meet Me Halfway initiative?

It was very simple. I was turning up the heat in my house and I was stirring a cup of coffee, just relaxing, and there was a feeling that came over me. It was almost like a guilty feeling. I started thinking about the people who were responsible for me being able to turn my heat up and pour a cup of coffee. It just reminded me that I really didn’t do very much last year in 2009, because I was very busy on tour and my time was very limited.

I thought I could do a walk across America, and I got to thinking about how insane it was. I thought, ‘If I think it’

About Jimmy:

Jimmy Wayne is a former foster kid turned award-winning country recording-artist whose songs and story highlight his mission to raise awareness for children in foster care. Jimmy’s hits include “Stay Gone,” “Paper Angels,” “I Love You This Much” and “Do You Believe Me Now,” which earned BMI’s prestigious Million-Air Award for receiving more than one million radio spins in America. In 2009, Jimmy toured with Brad Paisley and recorded “Sara Smile” with rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame duo Daryl Hall and John Oates.

In 2010, Jimmy walked halfway across America (from Nashville to Phoenix) to raise awareness for kids aging out of the foster care system. While walking, he wrote the Christmas novel Paper Angels (2011, Simon & Schuster). In 2012, Jimmy lobbied to pass legislative bills extending the age of foster care from 18 to 21 in California and Tennessee.

In 2013, Jimmy’s first film, Paper Angels (UPtv) became an instant holiday classic and in 2014 he released Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid Who Found the Way(2014, Thomas Nelson/Harper Collins) which became a three-time New York Times bestseller, crossing the 170,000 sales milestone in early 2019, and became a #1 Bestseller at Amazon.

In 2016 Jimmy received the prestigious Points of Light award from President George W. Bush (41), while simultaneously contributing to the extension of foster care services from age 18 to 21 in North Carolina and Ohio.

In 2017, Jimmy was honored with the inaugural Community Maker award by Verizon and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from William Woods University. In 2018 he received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Cal State University San Marcos and most recently, (May, 2019) he was honored by the National Council For Adoption with the Warren and Mary Alice Babineaux Award in recognition of his continued commitment to creating positive change in the lives of children in foster ca

American singer-songwriter

Musical artist

Jimmy Wayne Barber (born October 23, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled debut album in 2003 on the DreamWorks Records label. Four singles were released from it, including "Stay Gone" and "I Love You This Much", which both reached Top Ten on the Billboard country charts. A second album, Do You Believe Me Now, was released in August 2008 via Big Machine Records subsidiary Valory Music Group, and its title track became his first Number One hit in late 2008. Sara Smile followed in 2009.

Early life

Jimmy Wayne was born on October 23, 1972, in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and grew up in Bessemer City. His biological father abandoned him, and he and his sister were raised in and out of foster homes or were left with other people when their mother would leave them or was in prison. She served four months in prison in 1985 when Wayne was 12. After entering a group home, Wayne ran away and lived with his mother for a brief time before living on the streets and with his sister, Patricia, for a short while. He was invited to move in with an elderly couple, Russell and Bea Costner, (just down the road from where his mother was living), after being hired to mow their lawn. After finishing high school and earning a degree in Criminal Justice, he worked as a guard at the Gaston Correctional Facility, where he worked as a correct

A New York Times bestseller! Imagine yourself a thirteen-year-old hundreds of miles away from home, in a strange city, and your mom leaves you at a bus station parking lot and drives off into the night with her lover.

That’s the real-life story of country music star Jimmy Wayne. It’s a miracle that Jimmy survived being hungry and homeless, bouncing in and out of the foster care system, and sleeping in the streets. But he didn’t just overcome great adversity in his life; he now uses his country music platform to help children everywhere, especially teenagers in foster care who are about to age out of the system.

Walk to Beautiful is the powerfully emotive account of Jimmy’s horrendous childhood and the love he received from Russell and Bea Costner, the elderly couple who gave him a stable home and provided the chance to complete his education. Jimmy says of Bea, "She changed every cell in my body."

This moving memoir chronicles:

• Jimmy’s life as a foster child and homeless teenager
• His adoption by Russell and Bea Costner, an elderly couple who gave him a stable home and provided the opportunities for him to thrive
• His surprising rise to fame in the music industry
• His tireless advocacy for children in the foster care system through his Meet Me Halfway awareness campaign, a 1,700 mile walk halfway across America from Nashville to Phoenix

Join Jimmy on his walk to beautiful and see how one person really can make a difference.