Marion Cletus Cannon Jr., known professionally as Chuck Cannon, is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

songwriter. His compositions include hit singles for

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...

and

John Michael Montgomery John Michael Montgomery (born January 20, 1965) is an American country music singer. Active from 1992 to 2025, he has had more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts. This total includes seven number-one singles ...

. Cannon has also received awards for

Broadcast Music Incorporated Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organisation, performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BM ...

, as well as an

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

award for Song of the Year. He is the widower of country music singer-songwriter Lari White.

Early life

Marion Cletus Cannon Jr. was born and raised in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. His father was a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

preacher. He was inspired at an early age by local folk songs as well as black spiritual songs. He later performed at local venues, then moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, in 1984 to attend

Belmont University Belmont University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporate ...

. By 1988, he was signed to a songwriting contract.

Writing career

One of Cannon's first notable compositions was " I Love the Way You Love Me", a Number One hit for

in 1993, which Cannon co-wrote with Victoria Shaw. This song also won the Song of the Year award at the

awards, which is awarded to songwriters. Cannon then began working primarily for

, including " Me Too", " Dream Walkin'", " We Were in Love", "

Getcha Some "Getcha Some" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Toby Keith. It was released in September 1998 as the lead single from his compilation album ''Greatest Hits Volume One (Toby Keith album), Greatest Hits Volume One''. ...

", "If a Man Answers" and "When Love Fades" in the late 1990s, " How Do You Like Me Now?!" in 2000, and " American Soldier" in 2003–2004. "How Do You Like Me Now?!" was also the Number One country song of the year according to the

Billboard Year-End ''Billboard'' Year-End charts are cumulative rankings of entries in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine charts in the United States in any given chart year. Several hundred Year-End charts are now published by ''Billboard'', the most im ...

charts. Both it and "I Love the Way You Love Me" earned Eight-Million-Air awards from

for receiving eight million

spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

s at radio. Cannon also self-released two albums: ''God Shaped Hole'' and ''Love and Money'' in 2006 and 2008, respectively. Cannon's 2007 song "If I Was Jesus" was nominated for in the category Americana Song of the Year at the 7th Annual Independent Music Awards.

Personal life

Cannon was married to Lari White until her death on January 23, 2018, for whom he has also written singles. They have two daughters, M'Kenzy and Kyra, and a son, Jaxon.

Singles written by Cannon

Sarah Buxton Sarah Jane Buxton (born July 3, 1980) is an American country music singer formerly signed to the independent Lyric Street Records. Between 2006 and 2008, she issued three singles from an extended play titled '' Almost My Record'', in addition t ...

– "Space" *

Billy Dean William Harold Dean Jr. (born April 2, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He first gained national attention after appearing on the television talent competition '' Star Search''. Active as a recording artist since 1990, ...

– "This Is the Life" *

Wynonna Judd Wynonna Ellen Judd, known simply as Wynonna ( ; born Christina Claire Ciminella; May 30, 1964), is an American country music singer. She is one of the most widely recognized and awarded female country musicians in history. She has had 19 No. 1 s ...

– "Heaven Help Me", "Flies on the Butter (You Can't Go Home Again)" *

– "Me Too", "Dream Walkin'", "We Were in Love", "Getcha Some", "If a Man Answers", "When Love Fades", " How Do You Like Me Now?!", " American Soldier" *

Lonestar Lonestar (formerly known as Texassee) is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Drew Womack (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (key ...

– "Saturday Night" *

Shane Minor Shane Allen Minor (born May 3, 1968) is an American country music artist. Signed to Mercury Nashville Records in 1999, Minor released his self-titled album that year, and it produced three hit singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles ...

– " Slave to the Habit" *

– " I Love the Way You Love Me" * Lari White – "What a Woman Wants", " That's My Baby", " That's How You Know (When You're in Love)" * John & Audrey Wiggins – "She's in the Bedroom Crying" *

Danny Gokey Daniel Jay Gokey (born April 24, 1980) is an American singer and former church music director. He was the third-place finalist on the eighth season of ''American Idol''. After his placing on the show, Gokey signed to 19 Recordings and RCA Nashv ...

– " I Will Not Say Goodbye" *

Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco, California. The band formed in 1982 and experienced a surge of popularity during the 1980s with the release of several successful albums and hit singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and ...

– "Forever All Over Again"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, Chuck American country singer-songwriters Musicians from Greenville, South Carolina Belmont University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Country musicians from South Carolina American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from South Carolina