RICKY VAN SHELTON
Ricky Van Shelton was one of country music's biggest male stars during the late '80s and early '90s,
whose smooth baritone croon made him especially popular as a country-pop ballad stylist, but elsewhere he incorporated elements of rock, gospel, and classic honky
tonk.
Born in Danville, VA, in 1952, Ricky grew up in the small town of Grit. He
learned to sing at church and discovered country music as a teenager, performing at local gatherings whenever he could. After high school, he played the area club circuit and worked a series of day jobs, and in late 1984 he finally made the move to Nashville to make it in the business. He performed in nightclubs until a local newspaper columnist heard his demo and helped arrange a showcase that landed Van Shelton a deal with CBS in 1986.
In 1987, out of his debut album, Wild-Eyed Dream, came his first-ever single,
"Crime of Passion", hit the country Top Ten. Its follow-up,
"Somebody Lied", went straight to
No. 1; so did the album, and another single, "Life Turned Her That
Way". Heady success, soon followed up with the album, Loving
Proof, which topped the country charts in 1988 and spun off 3
No. 1: "I'll Leave This World Loving
You", "From a Jack to a King", and "Living
Proof" while "Hole in My Pocket" made the Top Five.
Ricky also did a 1989 holiday album Ricky Van Shelton Sings Christmas and
a 1990 gospel record Don't Overlook Salvation, while
working on his third album, RVS III. Released in 1990, it
also became a number one album, spawing a new string of great hits
like the No. 1 "I've Cried My Last Tear for You", while
"I Meant Every Word He Said", "Statue of a Fool"
and "Life's Little Ups and Downs" made Top Five. In 1991, Van Shelton teamed up with Dolly Parton for the chart-topping duet
"Rockin' Years" and subsequently issued another album,
Backroads. Though it just missed the top of the country charts,
it kept his hit streak going strong, producing two more chart
toppers: "Keep It Between the Lines" and
"I Am a Simple Man" (giving him a total of
9) and a No. 2 hit in the title track.
Ricky he released Greatest Hits Plus in 1992, and its newly recorded track,
"Wild Man", hit the Top Five. He returned in 1993 with
A Bridge I Didn't Burn, but the album didn't spawn any huge hits, as had been expected; it went gold, but it was the only Van Shelton album to date that ultimately failed to go platinum.
Tensions with Columbia led Van Shelton to part ways with his label a couple years later. He busied himself with, among other projects, a series of children's books centered around the character Quacker the Duck that he'd begun several years earlier. He also formed his own label, RVS, and recorded an album on his own called
Making Plans, which he distributed via an exclusive agreement with the Wal-Mart store chain in 1997.
In 1998, Vanguard stepped in to give the record a wider release.
Ricky Van Shelton subsequently signed with the Audium label, home to many veteran country artists, and recorded a new album,
Fried Green Tomatoes, in 2000.
