|
Ronnie Lee Milsap (born January 16, 1943 in Robbinsville, North Carolina) is an American Country/Pop singer and musician.[1] He was one of country music`s most popular singers in the 1970s and 1980s. He became country music`s first blind superstar. He was one of the many crossover country singers at this time, which was also called Countrypolitan or Country Pop. His biggest crossover hits include "(There`s) No Gettin` Over Me", "Smoky Mountain Rain", and "Lost in the Fifties Tonight". He is credited with forty number-one songs in country music, third only to George Strait and Conway Twitty.
Ronnie Milsap was one of Country Music`s most influential artists in the 70s and 80s, becoming one of Country`s biggest stars, appealing to both Country and Pop markets. Milsap was born with a congenital defect leaving him blind. [2] Milsap lived with his grandparents until the age of six, when he was placed in the State School for the Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina[3] When Milsap was seven, his instructors noticed his musical talents, and he soon began studying classical music formally. Soon, Milsap became interested in rock and roll music and soon formed a Rock band called "The Apparitions." Milsap was awarded a full college scholarship and attended college briefly in Atlanta, Georgia, until he decided to become a full-time musician. In the early 1960s, he got his first professional gig, as a member of J. J. Cale`s band.
He released his first single, "Total Disaster", in 1963. This was followed by several Ashford & Simpson compositions, including the memorable "Let`s Go Get Stoned", which, unfortunately for Milsap, was relegated to a B-side. A few months later, it would become a million-selling single for the more popular blind pianist, Ray Charles. Milsap moved to Memphis, Tennessee to become a session musician. He frequently worked in Memphis for Chips Moman, and can be heard playing the piano on the Elvis Presley hit "Kentucky Rain". He also sang harmony on another Presley hit, "Don`t Cry Daddy." In 1970, Milsap enjoyed brief Pop Music success with "Loving You Is a Natural Thing." Following that success, he released his debut album.
In 1973, Milsap moved to Nashville to pursue his dream of Country Music stardom. In 1973, he worked with Charley Pride`s producer, Jack D. Johnson and was signed onto RCA Records that year. He released his first single from RCA that year called "I Hate You", which became his first Country hit and also just breaking the Country Top 10. The next year, 1974 he had two #1 hits. His first was "Pure Love" and then "Please Don`t Tell Me How the Story Ends", along with another Top 20 hit that year. In 1975, he revived the Don Gibson hit "(I`d Be) A Legend In My Time". That year, he scored another #1 hit with "Daydreams About Night Things". Milsap had a handul of Top tens, along with a string of #1 hits that made Milsap a star overnight. The remarkable thing was that he didn`t leave the Country Top Ten for nearly 18 years straight. In 1977, he crossed over to the Pop Music charts with his #1 Country hit "It Was Almost Like a Song". The song became a Top 20 hit on the Pop charts and was also a Top Ten Adult Contemporary hit. However, it was his only crossover hit in the 1970s. He kept gaining hits on the Country Music charts, however, with hits like "Let My Love Be Your Pillow", "Let`s Take the Long Way Around the World" and "Nobody Likes Sad Songs".
By late 1979, his material shifted from straigh
Biography Credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Milsap
|
Is a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator with the call sign WB4KCG.
Super Star Sites
Silver Sites
Star Sites
Profile
Married
Relationship
"Encounter"
Comments
Submit a Comment