Born and raised in Butler, Alabama, Ty Herndon became involved in music as he was growing up. He sang gospel music and learned how to play piano. After he graduated from high school, he moved to Nashville. Initially, he had difficult time gaining a foothold in the music industry, spending 10 years without making any real headway. Ty left the Music City and headed to Texas, where he began slogging it out in local honky tonks, developing a dedicated following of fans. In 1993, he won the Texas Entertainer of the Year. Later that year, he signed to Epic Records.

Ty Herndon's first single "What Mattered Most" hit number one in the spring of 1995. An album of the same name was released in April and it became a Top 10 country hit. The second single, "I Want My Goodbye Back," became a number seven hit. Seemingly, the world was in his hands, but his first year of stardom was a difficult one, as he was arrested for drug possession on June 13, 1995 in Fort Worth, Texas. Nevertheless, the arrest didn't halt his career. The third single, "Heart Half Empty" was a hit and Herndon's second album, Living In A Moment, debuted at number six upon its summer 1996 release. Big Hopes followed two years later.