Whatever Happened To Aaron Tippin?
With a discography including songs like "Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagles Fly" and "You've Got to Stand for Something," Aaron Tippin is an icon in his own right. After leaving South Carolina, Tippin moved to Nashville in the late '80s where he landed a job at a record publishing company. There he worked as a songwriter, writing songs for stars such as Charley Pride, Mark Collie, and David Ball. Tippin however worked for the record company for only a few years, and he eventually got his big break in 1990 when he signed a deal with RCA records. And so, in the '90s, Tippin enjoyed massive success, becoming one of country music's biggest stars and garnering a slew of achievements.
By the early 2000s however, Tippin's songs and style of music had become outdated as he struggled to keep up with the changing times. But while it might appear that Tippin has lost his spot in the limelight, the veteran country singer is grateful to have had his time. "I enjoyed my time in the bigger spotlight," he admitted to Holy City Sinner in 2019. "I don't have new songs out or a major record deal. Country music radio will always move on to younger artists and put some of us out to pasture. I'm okay with that." These days, Tippin is clearly not as famous as he once was, but it might interest you to know that he has kept just as busy. Here's what the music star has been up to!
He worked at Logan Aluminum and as a truck driver
Aaron Tippin worked at Logan Aluminum while still finding his footing in the music industry during the late '80s. But even though he was offered a full-time position at Logan, Tippin turned down the offer, opting instead to continue pursuing his musical dreams. Although he has since achieved his lifelong musical dream, Tippin still has a passion for trucks and heavy equipment.
In a 1998 interview with the American Truck Historical Society, Tippin opened up about his love for trucks which had at the time translated to a collection of the vehicles. "I'm just an old farm boy. I was raised on a farm in South Carolina, where I got some truck driving experience. Once I got bigger than the bale of hay, I got to drive the truck across the field in granny gear! On the farm, you learn to do what is necessary to get the job done," he gushed. Tippin also found a way to merge his passions for trucks and music, releasing a number of truck-driving songs, a genre not quite as popularized in the mainstream music industry. He doesn't care though; Tippin does what he wants. "I guess I don't worry about what they do. I worry about what I want to do," he told Cincinnati in 2011.
Aaron Tippin's bodybuilding days
Before getting his big break as a country singer, Aaron Tippin was a professional bodybuilder. "I was a fanatic about bodybuilding. It was an obsession that drove me. Over the years, the health and fitness aspect transformed the obsession into an everyday way of life," he gushed during an interview with The Boot. After falling in love with exercising at the age of 12, Tippin eventually got into bodybuilding in 1984 when he started training with his older sister. It did not take long for bodybuilding to become an integral part of Tippin's life. "Y'know, once you become an iron head, you get memberships in all sorts of gyms around town," he said in an interview.
Alongside music, Tippin has kept up with his love for fitness. But even though he doesn't go quite as hard as he used to, Tippin remains committed to helping people achieve their fitness goals. In 2015, the "My Blue Angel" singer released Aaron Tippin Nutrition, a supplement aimed at helping people live, healthier, longer lives. "It's our goal to help folks get with it and stick to it ... or just encourage them to start living better so they can continue to pursue all the things they enjoy and live longer," he explained to The Boot.
He launched an aviation business
He might be better known as a country singer, but long before making his entry into the music scene, Aaron Tippin had a thriving career as a pilot. Born to veteran pilot Willis "Tip" Tippin, Aaron grew up around planes and soon started following in his father's footsteps. "Flying was just the Tippin thing to do. I started working at the airport when I was fourteen; I flew solo and got my private license at 16; got my commercial and multi-IFR at 18," he told Aviation Pros in 2011.
By the time he was 19, Aaron was well on his way to success, having recorded over 2,500 hours as a corporate pilot. However, despite what looked like a promising future in aviation, Aaron's dreams were abruptly cut short by the energy crisis that ravaged America in the '70s. "When I saw Delta furloughing senior captains, I thought, 'Man, I'm not going to make it.' I decided I'd do something that I liked next best," he recounted in an interview with Airport Journals.
Although he was forced to abandon his dreams, the country singer has continued to preach the gospel of aviation, particularly to the younger generation. "They need to know the history including the efforts of the Wright brothers, Amelia Earhart, and other aviation pioneers," he explained in the interview with Aviation Pros. Unsurprisingly, in 2021, Aaron launched Tennessee Flying Machines, an aviation business providing services ranging from aircraft sales, aircraft maintenance, and discovery rides, as seen on its website.
The country star returned to farming
Though an accomplished pilot, Willis "Tip" Tippin's career ended after suffering injuries in an airplane crash. To provide for his family, the older Tippin turned to farming, employing the help of his kids, including Aaron Tippin, who was only 8 at the time, per Tampa Bay Times. Through farming, Aaron learned the importance of hard work, putting in endless hours to help his father and family. This experience would go on to shape the country star's work ethic. "Being raised a farm boy, the first job I ever had was driving a hay truck for 25 cents an hour. I have a great appreciation for the people out there doing it," he recounted in an interview with the Las Vegas Sun.
After amassing success as a singer, Tippin found his way back to the farm. In a September 2003 interview with Review Journal, the "Kiss This" singer opened up about life on his then-300-acre Tennessee farm where he spent a lot of his free time. "This is the world I come from. This is the world of relief and love," he said told the publication. As of 2009, Tippin was reported to be living on a 500-acre farm with his wife Thea Corontzos and their kids. "I'm what you call a jack of all trades, master of none. Farmer. Outdoorsman. My wife tells me I have too many hobbies. I do a little bit of everything," he told Las Vegas Sun.
Aaron Tippin started a winery
In 2015, ahead of his 25th anniversary as a recording artist, Aaron Tippin teamed up with Tennessee-based Stonehaus Winery to create his signature drink– a blackberry wine named the Aaron Tippin Country Jam. Two years later, the country star teamed up with Stonehaus Winery again, this time to create "Kiss That," a cherry-flavored wine. "The Blackberry went so well and did so good, we all enjoyed working together so much, we decided, what are we going to do next? So now we have the cherry. And it's going big guns. We've already had to reorder the juice to make another 1100 gallons because this is almost gone," he told PopCulture of his strides in 2018.
But how exactly did a renowned country star get into making wines? Tippn has his father-in-law to thank for that. "He was a big wine drinker and turned me onto a delicious red wine," Tippin explained. "And, of course, once I tasted that, I fell in love with wine and I haven't had a beer since then." For the "Big Boy Toys" singer, however, making wine is more than just a hobby; it is a business fueled by passion. "I'm not just a name on the bottle. I get involved. I truly love making wine," he gushed to Holy City Sinner in 2019. If you ask him, Tippin couldn't be any prouder of the magic he has created through the years.
His affliation with Geekbox
In 2013, Charles Bell launched the Geekbox Bluetooth speaker, a device that offered users better sound quality while streaming their favorite songs. "There's thousands (of Bluetooth speakers) on the market, but we developed our specific design and modified it to the way we thought we liked it," Bell explained to Upper Cumberland Business Journal. Before putting the speaker on the market, however, Bell sought out Aaron Tippin's expertise with quality sound. To say the country star was impressed would be an understatement. "First off, you think, 'Yeah, okay ...' but when I tried it, wow, it had power and strength. What really excited me was that my 12-year-old son flipped out over it. I saw him and I thought, 'Hey, this could be a hit'" Tippin told Country Music Cruise of the speaker.
In an attempt to market it to music lovers, Bell put the speaker on Tippin's tour bus — a move that had him racking up a fan-studded clientele. By the end of its first year, Geekbox Bluetooth speaker had recorded about 6,000 sales. "It just keeps growing and growing," Bell gushed at the time. "When it started, it was supposed to be 1-3 percent (of our business). I just thought it would be neat to have something Walmart didn't have. And now it's getting real close to 50 percent of what we do."