Billy Dean

Billy Dean (1998)

William Harold "Billy" Dean Jr. (born April 2, 1962 in Quincy , Florida ) is an American country singer and songwriter who had a series of top 10 hits in the 1990s.

Beginnings

Billy Dean first played in his father's band at the age of eight. As a teenager he appeared in clubs on the Gulf Coast. Thanks to excellent performance in basketball, he received a college scholarship. But his real interest was in music, and so he dropped out after a year. A first important career step was in 1982 reaching the finals of a nationwide talent competition.

A little later he moved to Nashville , where he kept his head above water for several years as a backup singer, songwriter and with the recording of advertising jingles. Then he found employment with a music publisher. In 1988, winning the renowned Star Search talent competition led to a record deal with the Liberty label. In 1989, Randy Travis recorded Dean's composition Somewhere in My Broken Heart for his album No Holdin 'Back .

Career

Dean's first album Young Man was released in 1990. It contained several original compositions. Two decoupled singles were able to place in the country top 10. Somewhere in My Broken Heart was named Song of the Year by the Academy of Country Music . Billy Dean was also named Young Singer of the Year and received a Grammy nomination.

His second album Billy Dean was released in 1991. Again, several successful singles were released, including his most famous song Billy The Kid . The album achieved high sales and was gilded. After these initial successes, things went slightly downhill over the next few years. Only a few singles were able to place in the top 10. His albums fared significantly better. Fire In The Dark , released in 1993, achieved gold status, as did his greatest hits album and debut album Young Man .

In addition to his musical activities, Dean also worked as an actor and appeared in several television films. His last big hit for the time being came in 1996 with the song That Girl's Been Spyin 'On Me , which reached number five on the country charts. In 1999 he lost his record deal. In May 2000 he sang the harmony voices with Alison Krauss on Kenny Rogers ' number one hit Buy Me a Rose .

It took seven years until he released a new album with Let Them Be Little on the Curb label in 2005 . The title song made it into the top 10 again after many years of absence, but was also his last major success. Since 2005 Dean has not been able to place himself in the country charts.

Since the previous studio album was released in 2012 with the title A Man of Good Fortune for the indie label Rainman.

The artists who recorded Dean's songs include the Oak Ridge Boys , Kenny Rogers, Joe Diffie , Chad Brock and Ricky Skaggs .

Private

Dean has been married for the second time since 2005. He has two children from his first marriage. In the 1990s, Dean was in a relationship with actress and singer Crystal Bernard , who also recorded the duets Have We Forgotten What Love Is and To Dream Without You .

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	Country
1990	Young Man	US99 gold (26 weeks)US	Country12 (74 weeks) Country
1991	Billy Dean	US88 gold (37 weeks)US	Country22 (90 weeks) Country
1993	Fire in the Dark	US83 gold (16 weeks)US	Country14 (26 weeks) Country
1994	Men'll be boys	-	Country51 (10 weeks) Country
1996	It's What I Do	US143 (5 weeks) US	Country18 (25 weeks) Country
1998	Real man	-	Country41 (5 weeks) Country
2005	Let Them Be Little	US50 (3 weeks) US	Country8 (16 weeks) Country

More studio albums

• 2005: The Christ (A Song for Joseph)
• 2009: Sings Richard Leigh
• 2010: The One Behind the Wheel
• 2012: A Man of Good Fortune

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	Country
1994	Greatest hits	US148 gold (11 weeks)US	Country29 (26 weeks) Country

More compilations

• 2000: Love Songs
• 2002: Certified Hits
• 2003: The Best of Billy Dean
• 2005: The Very Best of Billy Dean

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	Country
1990	Only Here for a Little While Young Man	-	Country3 (22 weeks) Country
1991	Somewhere in My Broken Heart Young Man	-	Country3 (20 weeks) Country
	You Don't Count the Cost Billy Dean	-	Country4 (20 weeks) Country
	Only the Wind Billy Dean	-	Country4 (20 weeks) Country
1992	Billy the Kid Billy Dean	-	Country4 (20 weeks) Country
	If There Hadn't Been You Billy Dean	-	Country3 (20 weeks) Country
	Tryin 'to Hide a Fire in the Dark Fire in the Dark	-	Country6 (20 weeks) Country
1993	I Wanna Take Care of You Fire in the Dark	-	Country22 (20 weeks) Country
	I'm Not Built That Way Fire in the Dark	-	Country34 (13 weeks) Country
	We Just Disagree Fire in the Dark	-	Country9 (20 weeks) Country
1994	Cowboy band Men'll Be Boys	-	Country24 (20 weeks) Country
	Men Will Be Boys Men'll Be Boys	-	Country60 (6 weeks) Country
	Once in a While 8 Seconds OST	-	Country53 (8 weeks) Country
1996	It's What I Do It's What I Do	-	Country5 (20 weeks) Country
	That Girl's Been Spyin 'on Me It's What I Do	-	Country4 (20 weeks) Country
	I Wouldn't Be a Man It's What I Do	-	Country45 (14 weeks) Country
1998	Real Man Real Man	-	Country33 (18 weeks) Country
	Innocent Bystander Real Man	-	Country68 (3 weeks) Country
2000	Keep Mom and Dad in Love	-	Country51 (6 weeks) Country	with Suzy Bogguss & Jillian
2003	I'm in Love with You Let Them Be Little	-	Country52 (16 weeks) Country
2004	Thank God I'm a Country Boy Let Them Be Little	-	Country27 (20 weeks) Country
	Let Them Be Little Let Them Be Little	US68 (11 weeks) US	Country8 (31 weeks) Country
2005	This Is the Life Let Them Be Little	-	Country52 (2 weeks) Country

More singles

• 1990: Lowdown Lonely
• 1996: I Still Believe in Christmas
• 1997: In the Name of Love
• 2005: Race You to the Bottom
• 2005: Shine On
• 2006: Swinging for the Fence
• 2013: I Can't Leave a Good Thing

Guest Posts

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	Country
1998	One Heart at a Time	US56 (20 weeks) US	Country69 (5 weeks) Country	with various artists
1999	Buy Me a Rose She Rides Wild Horses	US40 (20 weeks) US	Country1 (37 weeks) Country	with Kenny Rogers & Alison Krauss
2001	America The Beautiful	-	Country58 (6 weeks) Country	with various artists

The most important awards

year	Org.	Award	title
1991	ACM	Song Of The Year	"Somewhere In My Broken Heart"
1991	ACM	Top New Male Vocalist

Web links

• Official website (English)
• Billy Dean at Allmusic (English)
• Billy Dean at Discogs (English)
• Billy Dean in the Internet Movie Database (English)

swell

1. ↑ Music Sales Awards: US
2. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/63198/life-is-a-little-better-for-billy-dean
3. ↑ http://www.musicvf.com/Billy+Dean.art
4. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/Billy-Dean-A-Man-Of-Good-Fortune/release/8840375
5. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/artist/655863-Billy-Dean?filter_anv=0&subtype=Writing-Arrangement&type=Credits
6. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0212714/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
7. ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9905/07/crystal.bernard/
8. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: US
9. ↑ ^{a b} Awards for Music Sales: US