First Chapter: ‘More Than You’ll Ever Know’
Before Theresa Nelson, Travis Tritt had already been married twice – first, to his high school sweetheart named Karen Ryon and then later on to Jodi Barnett, who was twelve years his senior – and at that point, he figured that marriage wasn’t his thing. In an interview with Country Weekly in 2000, he also revealed that he and Marty Stuart, longtime friend and collaborator, had a pep talk about it, and they agreed that they were better off staying single. And he became that guy who was known for having a penchant for sleeping around.
But fate had something in store for Tritt, and what he thought couldn’t find his way back to him again did so, and in a way, he didn’t expect.
On February 8, 1995, Tritt celebrated his birthday at a Nashville restaurant with friend and country music legend Marty Stuart. And one girl from the crowd struck out to him. It was Theresa Nelson, a college student and model. According to Tritt, he saw a sincere sweetness in her that stood out from all the other women he had ever met. As he said, he was no dummy, so he got her phone number and started calling her, and feelings soon developed.
At the start of their relationship, the two spent every waking moment with each other for about three to four months. But they had to be apart for two weeks after that, and worse, they had no means of communication as Tritt’s cell phone signal was not working in the area. He missed her so much, and he felt miserable during that time.
That was then he wrote his top 5 hit, “More Than You’ll Ever Know,” as a confession of his love to Nelson. The two finally got back together when Nelson moved to Atlanta to be with him. And then on April 12, 1997, the couple tied the knot.