Country icon’s wife was told to ‘pull the plug’ after his debilitating stroke

Randy Travis nearly lost more than just his singing voice after the country music legend had a massive stroke back in 2013.

Doctors had told Travis’ wife, Mary, that the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee would most likely lose his life from the severe medical incident.

“There was never a doubt in Randy’s mind that he could make it through it. It was that magical moment that I went to his bedside when they said, ‘We need to pull the plug. He’s got too many things going against him at that point,’” Mary told Fox News. “He had gotten a staph infection and three other hospital-born bacterial viruses like Serratia, Pseudomonas, one thing after another, and the doctors were just saying, ‘He just doesn’t have the strength to get through this.’”

But Mary said that when doctors told her to say goodbye to her husband, he gave her a sign.

“That was the moment that I knew that Randy Travis was gonna make it because he squeezed my hand a tear went down his face,” she told Fox. “And I said, ‘He’s still fighting.’”

Travis lost his ability to sing after experiencing a stroke in July 2013. The musician was given a 1% chance of survival.

Travis did not release new music in years until he put out a new song called “Where That Came From” in May 2024, thanks to the help of AI. Travis followed-up with another AI-generated song, “Horses In Heaven,“ this past January.

Mary told Fox News that she and Travis had traveled to Washington, D.C. to discuss the positive sides of AI and how they needed to embrace it to help Travis’ career. She now anticipates that her husband will continue to use AI and make more music.

“I think there’ll be more songs. I think that Randy’s interested in doing more songs. You know, the first one was ‘Where That Came From,’ the second one being ‘Horses in Heaven’ and there is another one that will probably be coming up pretty soon,” Mary told Fox News. “We have folders of music that Randy has written. You know, music or songs that Randy’s written. And perhaps one of those will see the light of day.”

Travis is currently on the “More Life Tour” with James Dupre, whose voice was used in making the AI recordings of Travis’ songs. A full list of shows can be found on Travis’ website.