This day in 1991, Tracy Lawrence left a Nashville studio in the early morning hours to celebrate finishing recording his first album, “Sticks and Stones.” A few hours later, he and a female friend were robbed at gunpoint — Tracy was shot four times.

Only hours after completing the recording of his debut album, Sticks and Stones, Tracy was shot four times as he heroically defended a woman friend against three muggers.

When it became obvious the thugs were going to rape his companion and kill them both, Tracy grabbed at one of the weapons. All three muggers fired at him and Tracy took four bullets in the hand, arm, hip and knee.

Tracy said in an interview in 1996: “I decided I’d rather go down fighting,” Tracy said. “The bullet that’s still in my hip missed a main artery by a tenth of a millimeter. If it had severed, I would have bled to death in three minutes. I’m lucky to be alive. I had nightmares about it for a long time.”