Rodney Scott Carrington (born October 19, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, country music artist and songwriter. He has released six major-label studio albums and a greatest hits package, on Mercury Records and Capitol Records. His comedy act typically combines stand-up comedy and original songs. Most of his songs are performed in a neotraditional country style, with Carrington handling lead vocals and guitar. Carrington has also starred in the ABC sitcom Rodney and in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses.

Early life

Rodney Carrington was born in Longview, Texas, in 1968, and lived there until 1990. He worked as a comedian in local venues, gaining exposure through radio programs such as The Bob and Tom Show.

Career

Carrington's first album, Hangin' with Rodney, was released in 1998 via Mercury Records Nashville. This album, consisting of both stand-up comedy and original songs, contained the non-charting single "Letter to My Penis" and peaked at No. 73 on Top Country Albums.

He moved to Capitol Nashville for his next album, 2000's Morning Wood. It was his first Top 20 album on the US Country charts, first Gold-certified recording, and it brought him to the singles charts for the first time with "More of a Man", which reached No. 71 on Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs). After it came the live album Live: C'mon Laugh You Bastards, which did not chart. Carrington's third release for Capitol was 2003's Nut Sack. It mostly consisted of studio-recorded comedy songs and only featured five stand-up sketches. It included the single "Don't Look Now" which reached No. 60. The album also featured a new version of "Letter to My Penis", which was recorded in a jazz-swing style.

A Greatest Hits package followed in 2004. This album comprised selections from his Capitol recordings on two discs: stand-up routines on one disc, and songs on the other. It also included two previously unreleased songs: "Put Your Clothes Back On" and his first non-comedy song, "Things We Didn't Know." This compilation album reached No. 3 on the Billboard Top Comedy Albums chart and No. 11 on the Billboard Top Country albums chart, becoming Carrington's first Platinum-certified recording.

Also in 2004, Carrington made his acting debut in Rodney, a sitcom based largely on his own life which aired on ABC for two seasons.

Carrington has released two more comedy albums on the independent label Laughter's Good Records: Laughter's Good (2014) and Here Comes the Truth (2017). In between these two, he also released a compilation album of re-recordings of comedy songs, titled Rodney Carrington: The Hits (2015). He continues to tour as of 2023.

Personal life

Carrington lives in Oklahoma, where his 2004–2006 sitcom was set.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Title

! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Album details

! colspan="5"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" style="width:8em;"| Certifications<br />and sales

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="45"| US Country<br />

! width="45"| US<br />

! width="45"| US Comedy<br />

! width="45"| US<br />Heat<br />

! width="45"| US Indie<br />

|-

! scope="row"| Hangin' with Rodney

|

  • Release date: June 2, 1998
  • Label: Mercury Nashville
  • Formats: CD, cassette

| 73

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| Morning Wood

|

  • Release date: August 15, 2000
  • Label: Capitol Nashville
  • Formats: CD, cassette

| 18

| 153

| —

| 6

| —

| align="left"|

  • US: Gold

|-

! scope="row"| Nut Sack

|

  • Release date: February 11, 2003
  • Label: Capitol Nashville
  • Formats: CD

| 14

| 82

| —

| —

| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| King of the Mountains

|

  • Release date: April 3, 2007
  • Label: Capitol Nashville
  • Formats: CD, music download

| 15

| 68

| 2

| —

| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| El Niño Loco

|

  • Release date: June 16, 2009
  • Label: Capitol Nashville
  • Formats: CD, music download

| 19

| 76

| 2

| —

| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| Laughter's Good

|

  • Release date: October 28, 2014
  • Label: Laughter's Good Records
  • Formats: CD, music download

| 23

| 91

| 1

| —

| 23

|

  • US: 25,800

|-

! scope="row"| Here Comes The Truth

|

  • Release date: September 13, 2017
  • Label: Laughter's Good Records
  • Formats: CD, music download

| —

| —

| 3

| —

| —

|

|-

| colspan="10" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart

|-

|}

Compilation albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Title

! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Album details

! colspan="3"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" style="width:10em;"| Certifications<br /><small>(sales threshold)</small>

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="45"| US Country<br />

|-

| 1998

! scope="row"| "Letter to My Penis"

| —

| align="left" rowspan="2"| Hangin' with Rodney

|-

| 1999

! scope="row"| "Dancin' with a Man"

| —

|-

| 2000

! scope="row"| "More of a Man"

| 71

| align="left"| Morning Wood

|-

| 2003

! scope="row"| "Don't Look Now"

| 60

| align="left"| Nut Sack

|-

| 2007

! scope="row"| "Show Them to Me"

| —

| align="left"| King of the Mountains

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2009

! scope="row"| "If I'm the Only One"

| —

| align="left"| El Niño Loco

|-

! scope="row"| "Camouflage and Christmas Lights"

| 31

| align="left"| Make It Christmas

|-

| colspan="4" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart

|-

|}

Music videos

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! Year

! style="width:18em;"| Video

! Director

|-

| rowspan="2"| 1998

! scope="row"| "Dancin' with a Man"

| rowspan="2"| Steven T. Miller/R. Brad Murano

|-

! scope="row"| "Fred"

|-

| 2000

! scope="row"| "More of a Man"

|

|-

| 2009

! scope="row"| "If I'm the Only One"

| Nick Searcy

|}

References

  • Official Website