Clay Walker at the Jackson County Fair

Ernest Clayton Walker Jr. (August 19, 1969), also known as Clay Walker, is an American country music artist. He is from Vidor, Texas. Walker got his first guitar when he was nine years old as a gift from his father. He began to enter talent-based competitions at 15 and began touring as a musician when he was 19. He performed at local clubs, which eventually brought him to a bar in Beaumont named “Neon Armadillo,” where he worked as a house singer.

Walker made his debut in 1993, releasing a single named "What's It to You." This hit no. 1 on the charts of Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks. He has released 11 albums in total that include a Christmas Music package. Four of his tour studio albums were platinum certified in the US, with the fifth being gold certified.

Some of his singles that charted on Hot Country Songs and reached no. 1 are Dreaming with My Eyes Open, This Woman and This Man, If I Could Make a Living, and Rumor Has It. Notable studio albums by Walker include Hypnotize the Moon, A Few Questions Fall, Christmas, Live, Laugh, Love, and a few more. Clay Walker was a winner to Country Song Roundup for Best New Male Vocalist and Radio & Records 1993 for Best New Male Artist. He was also nominated for TNN/Music City News, Academy of Country Music, and American Music Awards.