Tapping into the space between Merle Haggard and James Taylor, songwriter Billy Dean has always spoken for the people who work with their hands, think with their hearts, and live in the present moment. His first album in a decade, The Rest Of It’s Mine, is out now.
Billy Dean represented a deeper, more introspective way of making country music when he emerged with the chart-topping country and successful AC hits “Only Here For A Little While” and Academy of Country Music Song of the Year “Somewhere In My Broken Heart” from his gold-certified debut Young Man.
Born in the small town of Quincy, Florida, Billy Dean started his music career at the age of eight, singing with his father’s band, the Country Rocks. After touring the Gulf Coast circuit in his late teens and early twenties, Billy’s first big break came in 1988 when he won Best Male Vocalist on Star Search. His success on the show led to signing with Capitol Records and the release of his debut album Young Man in 1990, which became Billy’s first of many Gold records.
Over the course of his 30+ year career, Billy has released 11 albums and has been recognized with several awards and nominations. In 1992, he was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year for “Somewhere In My Broken Heart,” which went on to win Song of the Year at the American Country Music Awards. That same year, Billy was named Top New Male Vocalist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards and nominated by the Country Music Association for the Horizon Award. Four years later, Billy won a Grammy for Amazing Grace (A Country Salute To Gospel), an album featuring Martina McBride, Allison Krauss, the Charlie Daniels Band, and others. In 2017, Billy was inducted as a member of the Florida Artist Hall of Fame.
A modern-day American troubadour, Billy Dean has performed and toured with some of the industry’s biggest country music stars including the Judds, Kenny Rogers, Clint Black, Alan Jackson, and others.