Rodney Crowell
(born August 7, 1950) is a Grammy Award-winning musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music.
He is considered to be part of both the alternative country and the mainstream country music camps. He is a contemporary of Steve Earle and, like Earle, was also influenced by the songwriting greats Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. Crowell played guitar and sang for three years in Emmylou Harris' "Hot Band".
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RODNEY CROWELL TICKETS
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Biography
Crowell was born August 7, 1950 in
Houston, Texas to James Walter Crowell and Addie Cauzette Willoughby. At age 11, he starting performing as a musician in his father's band. In August 1972 he moved to
Nashville, Tennessee. In 1977 he formed his own musical group, The Cherry Bombs, together with
Vince Gill,
Tony Brown and others.
[1]
He was married to
Rosanne Cash (daughter of
Johnny Cash), from 1979 to 1992 and had a great influence on her career, producing most of her albums during that period. They collaborated on a number of duets, including 1988's "It's Such a Small World." Although Crowell and Cash are now divorced, they remain on friendly terms, performing together occasionally. Crowell and Cash had three daughters, Caitlin, Chelsea, and Carrie, and raised Hannah, Rodney's daughter from a previous marriage. He married
Claudia Church in 1998.
Although best known as a songwriter and alternative country artist, Crowell enjoyed mainstream popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s. His critically acclaimed album, 1988's
Diamonds & Dirt
, produced five No. 1 hits during a 17-month span in 1988 and 1989: "
It's Such a Small World" (a duet with Cash), "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried," "She's Crazy for Leaving," "After All This Time" and "Above and Beyond" (a cover of
Buck Owens' 1962 hit). His follow-up album, 1989's
Keys to the Highway
, produced two top 5 hits in 1990, which were "Many a Long and Lonesome Highway" and "If Looks Could Kill."
As Crowell's popularity in hit-radio country music faded, he continued his prolific songwriting. In 2001, he released
The Houston Kid
on
Sugar Hill Records. Many songs on the album were semi-autobiographical, and the album included a duet with Crowell's ex
father-in-law Johnny Cash on "I Walk the Line (Revisited)". Initially, Cash was annoyed at Crowell changing the tune to his song, but he came to like the finished product. Crowell followed up this effort with
Fate's Right Hand
in 2003 and
The Outsider
in 2005, both of which came out on Columbia Nashville, a division of Sony Music. Leading critics and Crowell consider these three albums his finest work as a solo artist.
2004 saw the release of
The Notorious Cherry Bombs, a reunion of Crowell's 1970s road band, including
Vince Gill and
Tony Brown. The future
Keith Urban hit "
Making Memories of Us" was included on this disc. In 2005, Crowell served as producer for established
Irish singer/songwriter
Kieran Goss on the album Blue Sky Sunrise.
In 2008 CMT announced that Crowell's next album,
Sex and Gasoline
, would come out on Yep Roc Records, ending his relationship with Sony Music. This marked the first time Crowell did not produce his CD. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.
[2]
In 2009, Crowell wrote
Wynonna Judd's title track to her album,
Sing: Chapter 1
, which also was released in 2009. The song was given several
electronic dance music remixes, and sent to dance radio as Judd's second release from the album. In August 2009, the single reached #4 on the U.S.
Billboard
Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
Discography
References
- Inductees, Music City Walk of Fame
- CMT : News : Rodney Crowell's New Album Coming in September