| Lonestar | |
|---|---|
Lonestar performing in 2007 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | BNA Lonestar/Co5 |
| Associated acts | Big & Rich McAlyster |
| Website | http://www.lonestarnow.com/ |
| Members | |
| Michael Britt Richie McDonald Keech Rainwater Dean Sams |
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| Past members | |
| Cody Collins John Rich |
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Lonestar is an American country music group consisting of Richie McDonald (lead vocals), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Keech Rainwater (drums), Dean Sams (keyboards, melodica, background vocals), and Michael Hill (Bass Guitar). McDonald left the band in November 2007 for a solo career before returning in 2011. During that time, Cody Collins, who had formerly been in another country group called McAlyster, replaced McDonald as the band's lead vocalist. John Rich was also the group's bass guitarist and second lead vocalist until 1998, when he was fired from the group. He left for a solo career, before joining Big Kenny in the duo Big & Rich in 2003. Since Rich's departure, Lonestar has not had an official bass guitarist.
Lonestar first charted in late 1995 with the single "Tequila Talkin'," the first of 27 singles on the country charts. Nine of the band's singles have reached Number One on this chart. Perhaps their well-known and biggest hit was 1999's "Amazed", a crossover hit that reached Number One on both the country charts and the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first single to do so since Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream" in 1983. The group has also recorded eight studio albums and a Greatest Hits compilation. Three of their albums have been certified gold, while three more have been certified platinum or higher. They have sold more than 6.5 million records worldwide.
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Lonestar began in 1992 as a band named Texassee. This name was derived from the fact that all five members were natives of Texas, and met in Nashville, Tennessee's Opryland USA theme park.[1][2] The original lineup consisted of lead singer/rhythm guitarist Richie McDonald (Lubbock), lead guitarist Michael Britt (Fort Worth), drummer Keech Rainwater (Plano), keyboardist Dean Sams (Garland), and bass guitarist/co-lead vocalist John Rich (Amarillo). Before Lonestar's foundation, Rainwater played drums in another country band called Canyon, which recorded for 16th Avenue Records charted in the country top 40 with "Hot Nights" in 1989.[3] By 1992, Texassee changed its name to Lonestar. The band first played at a concert in Nashville in 1993 and signed to BNA Records by 1995.
The band's first single for BNA Records, "Tequila Talkin'", reached a peak of number eight on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was included on Lonestar's self-titled debut album.[1] The next single, "No News" (originally the b-side to "Tequila Talkin'"), became the band's first Number One hit in April 1996.[3] After it, "Runnin' Away with My Heart" also went to number eight, followed by "When Cowboys Didn't Dance" at number 45 and "Heartbroke Every Day" at number eighteen. The latter two songs overlapped on the charts with "Maybe He'll Notice Her Now", a duet that McDonald recorded with Mindy McCready for her debut album Ten Thousand Angels, which also peaked at number eighteen.[4]
In 1997, the band released its second album, Crazy Nights. It was led off with the band's second Number One, "Come Cryin' to Me".[3] The next singles were "You Walked In", "Say When" and "Everything's Changed", with respective peaks at twelve, thirteen and two on the country music charts.[3] Written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, "You Walked In" was the band's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 93; "Everything's Changed" went to 95 on the same chart.[3]
Shortly after the release of "Everything's Changed", Rich was fired from the band[5] and began a solo career for BNA. He charted the singles "Pray for You" and "Forever Loving You", and later founded the duo Big & Rich with Big Kenny in 2003.
Lonely Grill, the first album not to include Rich, was released in 1999. Its first single, "Saturday Night", failed to reach Top 40. However, it was soon followed by the ballad "Amazed", which became the group's biggest crossover hit. Having spent eight weeks at Number One on the country charts, "Amazed" would later reach Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 as well,[2] making Lonestar the first country act to top both the Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts since 1983, when Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton accomplished the same feat with "Islands in the Stream".[6] All of the other singles from Lonely Grill ("Smile", "What About Now", and "Tell Her") reached Number One as well, and the album was certified double platinum by the RIAA. Lonely Grill was followed in 2000 by a Christmas album called This Christmas Time.
I'm Already There was the title of Lonestar's fourth studio album. Released in 2001, this album continued in a more country pop oriented direction. The lead-off single (which was the title track) spent six weeks at Number One, followed by "With Me" at #10, "Not a Day Goes By" at #3, and the Mark McGuinn-penned "Unusually Unusual" at #12.
2003 saw the release of a greatest hits compilation entitled From There to Here: Greatest Hits. This album reprised the greatest hits from their first four studio albums, in addition to producing two new singles in the Number One "My Front Porch Looking In" and a #8-peaking cover of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis".
Let's Be Us Again was released in 2004. This album produced three singles, including its title track (#4 on the country charts) as well as "Mr. Mom", their final Number One. The third single, "Class Reunion (That Used to Be Us)", peaked at #16, however, and Let's Be Us Again did not sell as well as I'm Already There.
Coming Home followed a year later. Only two singles were released from this album: "You're Like Comin' Home" (#8 on the country charts) and "I'll Die Tryin'", both of which were previously recorded by the Canadian country band Emerson Drive on their 2004 album What If?. "I'll Die Tryin'" also became the group's first single since 1999's "Saturday Night" to miss the Top 40.
Mountains, their final album for BNA, sold even more poorly than Coming Home did, and like Coming Home, it only produced two singles, including its #10 title track (co-written by Larry Boone) and the #51 "Nothing to Prove".[7] In March 2007, Lonestar was dropped from BNA's roster. Guitarist Michael Britt attributes the group's downfall in the mid-2000s to the label's choices in singles, saying in an interview with CMT, "I think we painted ourselves into a corner… They started putting out a bunch of family-type songs. I think that really pigeonholed us. The majority of the band didn't really want to continue doing that same thing. But that's what kept getting put out."[7]
Lead singer Richie McDonald also announced that he would be leaving the group at the end of 2007 in search of a solo career. Cody Collins, who formerly recorded on MCA Nashville Records in the band McAlyster, was confirmed as his replacement.[8] Lonestar's first compilation with Collins as lead singer was a Christmas music compilation titled My Christmas List, available exclusively at the restaurant and gift shop chain Cracker Barrel.[9] Since his departure from Lonestar, McDonald has charted two solo singles of his own: "How Do I Just Stop" and "Six-Foot Teddy Bear", both of which reached #51 on the country charts. The latter was released on Stroudavarious Records.
The group's first single to feature Collins on lead vocals was "Let Me Love You", which was released in early 2008 on the Co5 label. The song made it to #50 on the country music charts. It is the first single from the album Party Heard Around the World, released on April 27, 2010. "You're the Reason Why" was released to radio on March 2, 2010. The group appeared on The Price Is Right, serving as the house band on a June 17, 2010 episode. They performed the show's theme song, along with a sample of their newest hits from their most recent album.[10]
Collins left in 2011, with McDonald rejoining the lineup. The band plans to resume touring in 2012 and record a new album to celebrate its 20th anniversary.[11]
Michael Hill - bass guitar, vocals
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