Randy VanWarmer (also spelled Vanwarmer or Van Warmer; March 30, 1955 – January 12, 2004) was an American

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

and guitarist. His biggest

hit song A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

was " Just When I Needed You Most". It reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1979 after peaking at No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 1 on ''Billboard''

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

earlier that year. He wrote several songs for

The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American vocal quartet. The classic and most well-known lineup of the group, which performed together for over 40 years, consisted of William Lee Golden (baritone), Duane Allen (lead), Richard Sterban (bass), and Joe ...

, including "I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes," which reached No. 1 on the

Hot Country Songs 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. The song appeared on his 1981 album ''Beat of Love'', which also included the "Suzi Found a Weapon", which hit No. 55 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Career

Randall VanWarmer was born in Indian Hills, Colorado, the son of Roger VanWarmer (1919–1967) and Betsy (née Harry; 1919–2006). At 15, three years after the death of his father in an automobile accident, he moved with his mother to

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England. In a 1989 interview with ''Release'', a now-defunct independent paper from

Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...

, Van Warmer said that

Albert Grossman Albert Grossman (May 21, 1926 – January 25, 1986) was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music and rock and roll scene. He was famous as the manager of many of the most popular and successful performers of folk and folk ...

, the head of

Bearsville Records Bearsville Records is a record label that was founded in 1970 by Albert Grossman. The label closed in 1984, two years before Grossman's death. Sally Grossman, Albert Grossman’s widow, was running Bearsville Records from 2010 until her death in ...

, would not let him do television or tour the United States, a strategy that did not prove successful. His second album, ''Terraform'', was dark and more alternative than his previous work. According to ''Release'', ''Terraform'' sold moderately in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. VanWarmer would later publicly rue his decision to turn away from

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 ...

s. He made two more records at Bearsville: ''Beat of Love'' and ''The Things That You Dream''. ''Beat of Love'' included the single "Suzi Found a Weapon", a tribute to a Bearsville

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

rep whom VanWarmer would later marry, and which went to No. 1 in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

and gained a certain amount of posthumous acclaim (for example, a review by James A. Gardner in

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

). Grossman died soon after this. According to ''Release'', in the mid-1980s, Suzi VanWarmer mailed a song called "I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes" from ''Beat of Love'' to a friend at

MCA Inc. MCA Inc. (originally an initialism for Music Corporation of America) was an American media conglomerate founded in 1924. Originally a talent agency with artists in the music business as clients, the company became a major force in the film indus ...

, who sent it to Ron Chancey, producer for

the Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American vocal quartet. The classic and most well-known lineup of the group, which performed together for over 40 years, consisted of William Lee Golden (baritone), Duane Allen (lead), Richard Sterban (bass), and Joe ...

who put it on their next album.

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American Country music, country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the gen ...

recorded a song of VanWarmer's, as did Michael Johnson. VanWarmer 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 ...

, and the recording of his song, "

I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why) "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)" is a song written by Roger Murrah and Randy VanWarmer, and recorded by American country music band Alabama. It was released in September 1992 as the second single from their album '' American Pride''. The so ...

" by the band

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

hit No. 1 on the country chart. His final album was a tribute to

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...

, released posthumously only in Japan. According to the CD's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

, VanWarmer played all the instruments on the album. The notes also indicate that he completed work on the record a few days after learning he had

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

; he died at 48, one day before the anniversary of Foster's death. Some of his

cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

remains were sent into space in 2007 and then again in 2012 aboard the first successful private space flight to the International Space Station.

Death

VanWarmer died on January 12, 2004, at the age of 48 in Seattle. He had been suffering from

for the previous year. He is survived by his widow Suzi and his brothers Dave, Mark, and Ron.

Discography

Albums

*'' Warmer'' – 1979 *''Terraform'' – 1980 *''Beat of Love'' – 1981 *''The Things That You Dream'' – 1983 *''I Am'' – 1988 *''Every Now and Then'' – 1990 *''The Third Child'' – 1994 *''The Vital Spark'' – 1994 (Alternate title: ''I Will Whisper Your Name'') *''Sun, Moon and Stars'' – 1996 *''Sings Stephen Foster'' – 2005 *''Songwriter'' – 2006

Singles

References

External links

Official site
- dead link {{DEFAULTSORT:VanWarmer, Randy 1955 births 2004 deaths People from Jefferson County, Colorado American male singer-songwriters Space burials American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock singers American rock songwriters American soft rock musicians Deaths from leukemia in Washington (state) American expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Colorado 20th-century American male singers Bearsville Records artists Singer-songwriters from Colorado