Michael Peterson (singer)
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Michael Peterson catapulted into the national spotlight in 1997 on the success of the hit single, "Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie" and his follow up release, "From Here to Eternity," which became his first #1 hit as an artist and second as a writer.[citation needed] The self-titled debut disc was certified gold and he was recognized as country music's top selling new male artist of 1997 and 1998.
[edit] Biography
Peterson was born in Tucson, Arizona in 1959, but grew up in Richland, Washington, where he developed a deep appreciation and love of music. He credits his grandmother with nurturing his interest in music.
Peterson attended Pacific Lutheran University on football and music scholarships. The 6'4" left tackle placed his musical aspirations on hold while he pursued his psychology degree and was a starter at left offensive tackle on the team that won the 1980 NAIA Div II National championship.
After graduation, he spent twelve years moving junior and high school students around the U.S. and Canada with his powerful "Who Cares?" assembly program. He secured his first major publishing deal and recordings for pop superstar Deniece Williams, co-writing a song on her multiple grammy winning "So Glad I Know" album. ( "If We Are The Light" ) In 1986 he recorded a collection of contemporary Christian songs on Sparrow Records charting 3 songs on the CCM national music charts. ("Beyond The Very Best", "Draw Me Near" and the CHR hit "Give It Up.")
It would be a decade before the release of his next album, “Michael Peterson,” but this self-titled country smash was pure gold for Warner/Reprise Records. The album produced five hit singles, “Drink, Swear, Steal and Lie" (#3 on Billboard's country charts), "From Here to Eternity" (#1) “Too Good To Be True” (#8), “When the Bartender Cries” (#37), and "By The Book" (#19).
Peterson was named Top New Artist of 1997 by both Billboard and Radio & Records and honored as Country Weekly's Male Newcomer and Gavin's Artist to Watch in 1998.
The 90’s ended as “Being Human,” his second country album, was released, launching two chart singles, "Something 'Bout a Sunday" and "Sure Feels Real Good".
Michael made his dramatic television debut with a guest appearance on “Walker, Texas Ranger” and continued his string of accolades by winning the 1999 Male Star of Tomorrow Award at the fan-voted TNN/Music City News Awards.
In 2000, he signed with Sony and released the single, “Modern Man” in 2001. It was the highest debuting single of his career. When a label shake up at SONY Nashville relieved the President, head of A&R and General Manager of their jobs in 2002, Michael was dropped from SONY Nashville along with a dozen other artists. In 2004 AGR/Universal acquired the rights to the critically acclaimed "Modern Man" album from SONY and released the CD in Europe. The first week on the charts in Germany, the album boasted 6 songs in the top 40, with the single, "No More Looking Over My Shoulder" reaching # 2 on the German Country charts and # 1 on the Trans-European Hit Predictor Hot Disc" chart.
Highlights of 2005 and 2006 were many. Performing over 150 dates, he played Europe's largest country music festival in Gstaad, Switzerland saw the headlines read "Peterson Steals The Show."
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He sang the National Anthem on CBS television at the opening of the ARMY/NAVY football game to a worldwide audience watching from 140 countries.
He performed for deployed troops on a 7 day/11 country tour of the middle east with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace over the 2005 Christmas/New Year holiday and travelled to visit troops again in Korea and Afghanistan later in the year.
He hosted the very successful Michael Peterson/New Holland celebrity tractor race during CMA Music Fest.
He wrote, performed and received raves for his speaking and singing during the August American Legion national convention in Salt Lake city.
He was a featured speaker and singer at both the national 4-H dairy youth and national FFA youth conventions.
As the celebrity spokesperson for the New Holland company he made dozens of appearances and participated in raising tens of thousands of dollars for assorted charities including the American Cancer and Canadian Cancer societies.
He signed a new long term publishing deal with Dimensional Music publishing and secured the title track and first single on multi-platinum recording artist Ty Herndon's most recent release on Universal entitled "Right About Now."
He was a contributing author in two nationally released books. "A Country Christmas" ( Random House) and "Between The Lines And Spaces" (Standard Press)
He released a new CD entitled "Down On The Farm."
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | US Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie | #3 | Michael Peterson |
| 1997 | From Here To Eternity | #1 | Michael Peterson |
| 1998 | Too Good To Be True | #8 | Michael Peterson |
| 1998 | When The Bartender Cries | #37 | Michael Peterson |
| 1999 | By The Book | #19 | Michael Peterson |
| 1999 | Sure Feels Real Good | #39 | Being Human |
| 1999 | Somethin Bout A Sunday | #45 | Being Human |
| 2002 | Modern Man | #44 | Modern Man |
| 2002 | Lesson In Goodbye | #58 | Modern Man |
[edit] External links
Categories: All pages needing to be wikified | Wikify from December 2006 | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Wikipedia proseline cleanup | 1959 births | Living people | People from Tucson | American male singers | American country singers
