Gary Gene Watson (born October 11, 1943) 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 ...

singer. He is most famous for his 1975 hit " Love in the Hot Afternoon", his 1981 number-one hit " Fourteen Carat Mind", and his signature 1979 song " Farewell Party". Watson's long career has included five number-one hits, 21 top-10s, and 48 charted singles.

Biography

Watson was born in Palestine, Texas, United States. He was raised in Paris, Texas, but in 1963, he relocated to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. A street in Paris is called Gene Watson Boulevard, named after him. He began his music career in the 1960s, performing in local clubs at night while working in a Houston auto body shop during the day. He recorded for only a few small, regional record labels, having a regional hit "Bad Water", until 1975, when

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

picked up his album ''Love in the Hot Afternoon'' and released it nationally. The title track, a midtempo

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

in three-quarter time, was released in June 1975, and it reached number three on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. Watson's national success continued throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, as he recorded several ''Billboard'' top-40 hits, including "Where Love Begins", "Paper Rosie", "Should I Come Home (or Should I Go Crazy)", "Nothing Sure Looked Good on You", and "Farewell Party", which was released in 1979, and quickly became Watson's signature song, and the namesake of his Farewell Party Band. In February 2012, Watson, celebrated his 50th year in the music business with the release of ''Best of the Best, 25 Greatest Hits''. (His first single on radio was "If It Was That Easy", released in 1962). The collection of songs was re-recorded to recreate the originals as closely as possible. The project was produced by Dirk Johnson and released on Watson's own Fourteen Carat Music label. In June 2014, Watson released an 11-track CD, ''My Heroes Have Always Been Country,'' covering hits by some of his musical heroes, such as Merle Haggard, Ray Price, and

Lefty Frizzell William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) was an American country and honky-tonk singer-songwriter. Frizell is known as one of the most influential country music vocal stylists of all time. He has been cited as in ...

. On February 26, 2016, Watson released his 33rd studio album, titled, ''Real.Country.Music.'' The 13-track CD contained traditional country music and the first single release is "Enough for You", a song written by

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

. In 2018, Watson released a gospel music CD titled ''My Gospel Roots''. The first single from the 13-track release, "Old Roman Soldier", hit number one on the ''Cashbox'' and Christian Servant Country Gospel charts in June 2018. Watson was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002, and inducted into the inaugural class of the Houston Music Hall of Fame in August 2013. In 2018, Watson received the Entertainer of the Year Award from the R.O.P.E. Awards, an honor he shared with singer Jeannie Seely. It was the first time in the history of the awards that a tie occurred in any category. Watson was invited to join the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

, by Vince Gill, on January 17, 2020.

The Farewell Party Band

The Farewell Party Band is his long-time backing band. They were named after his 1978 hit single, "Farewell Party". Between 1982 and 1984, two studio albums were released credited to Gene Watson and the Farewell Party Band. The band backed Watson on one of his solo albums, and they released one studio album on their own. Several notable musicians were members of the band, such as Tony Booth. While many other members have played with them since the 1980s, below is a timeline of just the members during their recorded output.

Discography

References

External links

Official Gene Watson website

Original Gene Watson Fan Site
- The Original Gene Watson Fan Site, as of October 2024, is 20 years online, and is recognized by Gene Watson & his management team at Lytle Management in Brentwood, TN. {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Gene 1943 births American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Living people People from Palestine, Texas Singers from Houston MCA Records artists Epic Records artists Warner Records artists Capitol Records artists Step One Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas Country musicians from Texas