Birth date: July 3, 1958

Birthplace: Pensacola, Fla.

Raised: Travelers Rest, S.C., near Greenville, in a region known as the "Dark Corner" of Appalachia, notorious for its moonshine

Height: 5 feet 8 inches

Hair: black, flecked with gray

Eyes: blue

Parents: father Willis Emory "Tip" Tippin, a retired Air Force pilot; mother Mary, a retired nurse

Spouse: the former Thea Corontzos, married July 15, 1995, in a traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony. "I think I've found somebody who likes some of the same stupid junk I do," says Aaron. "[She] likes golf, likes weight lifting, likes guns and shooting. She's the type of gal who doesn't mind handing me wrenches while I'm laying under the tractor cussing." Thea and Aaron have also written several songs together, including Aaron's No. 1 "Kiss This."

Children: daughter Charla, from a previous marriage, born Oct. 23, 1977; sons Theodore Emory, born Dec. 14, 1997, and Thomas Aaron, born Dec. 1, 2000

Residence: a spacious log home set on more than 300 acres of forested land in DeKalb County, Tenn. Staples in the Tippin kitchen include venison, wild turkey, red wine and garlic.

Previous jobs: farm hand, truck driver, factory worker, corporate pilot, welder

Arrival in Nashville: In 1987, Aaron moved to Music City in a 1975 Toyota named Dazee, which was later immortalized in the song "There Ain't Nothing Wrong With The Radio," his first No. 1 single.

Hobbies: hunting deer and wild turkey, collecting vintage dump trucks, flying airplanes -- "Even though I know every aeronautical reason why an airplane flies, I'm still amazed when I see that giant piece of sheet metal jump off the ground."

Body by Aaron: A longtime body-building enthusiast, Aaron started lifting weights after his divorce from his first wife: "I was 25 years old or so," Aaron explains, "and I decided that I would quit being a stupid drunk and go to the gym and get myself in shape." Two years later he began entering body-building competitions.

Tattoo: the palmetto tree and crescent moon from the South Carolina state flag, on his right bicep

When lightning strikes: It strikes twice for Aaron. He endured two indirect hits -- the first when he was a teenager, building a fence with his dad, the second when lightning struck a dump truck he was working under. "It knocked the peerooney out of me that time," Aaron says. "I don't want to be hit that hard again."

Songwriter: Before he became a recording artist, Aaron was under contract with Acuff-Rose as a songwriter. He wrote Charley Pride's "Whole Lotta Love On The Line," David Ball's "I Was Born With A Broken Heart" and collaborated with Mark Collie on Mark's "Something With A Ring To It."

Favorite singers: Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Thompson, Faron Young, Johnny Horton, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra

Favorite songs: The Allman Brothers' "Ramblin Man," Frank Sinatra's "Just The Way You Look Tonight" and "The Carroll County Accident" by Porter Wagoner

Gold albums: You've Got To Stand For Something (1991); Call Of The Wild (1993); Lookin' Back At Myself (1994); Tool Box (1995); People Like Us (2000)

Platinum album: Read Between The Lines (1992)

Top 10 singles: "You've Got To Stand For Something" (No. 6, 1990); "There Ain't Nothin' Wrong With The Radio" (No. 1, 1992); "I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way" (No. 5, 1992); "My Blue Angel" (No. 7, 1993); "Working Man's Ph.D." (No. 7, 1993); "That's As Close As I'll Get To Loving You" (No. 1, 1995); "For You I Will" (No. 6, 1999); "Kiss This" (No. 1, 2000); "Where The Stars And Stripes And The Eagle Fly" (No. 2, 2001)