Wayland D. Holyfield (March 15, 1942 – May 6, 2024) was an American songwriter and leader in the songwriting community.

Personal life

Wayland Holyfield was born in Mallettown,

Conway County, Arkansas Conway County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Created as Arkansas's 11th county on October 20, 1825, Conway County has four incorporated municipalities, including Morrilton, Arkansas, Morrilton, the co ...

. He was educated in Arkansas public schools and attended

Hendrix College Hendrix College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Approximately 1,000 students are enrolled, mostly undergraduates. While affiliated with the United Methodist Chu ...

at Conway, Arkansas, before graduating from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

with a degree in marketing in 1965. Prior to his musical career, Holyfield was a wholesale appliance salesman and advertising account manager. His wife Nancy and he had three children, Greg, Mark, and Lee. Holyfield died at his home in Nashville on May 6, 2024, at the age of 82.

Early career

In 1972, Holyfield left Arkansas and 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 ...

, to pursue a songwriting career and his first song was recorded in 1973. He received his first number-one hit with " Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer". In 1975, Holyfield achieved his first solo number-one hit " You're My Best Friend" recorded by

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing p ...

. In addition to his collaborations with Williams, Holyfield's songs have been recorded by numerous Nashville singers, including

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, the

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, the

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, and

Charly McClain Charlotte Denise "Charly" McClain (born March 26, 1956) is a retired American country music singer, best known for a string of hits during the 1980s. McClain's biggest hits include " Who's Cheatin' Who", " Sleepin' with the Radio On", and " Radi ...

. During his career, Holyfield was writer of over 40 top-10 hits and 14 number-one hits. Some of his best-known songs are "Could I Have This Dance", "

Some Broken Hearts Never Mend "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend" is a song written by Wayland Holyfield, and recorded by American country music artist Don Williams. It was released in January 1977 as the first single from the album '' Visions''. The song was Williams' sixth num ...

", "

'Til the Rivers All Run Dry "Til the Rivers All Run Dry" is a song recorded by American country music artist Don Williams, who co-wrote it with Wayland Holyfield. It was released in December 1975 as the first single from the album ''Harmony (Don Williams album), Harmony''. ...

", " You're the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had", " Only Here for a Little While", "Meanwhile", and " Nobody Likes Sad Songs". In his home state of Arkansas, Holyfield is most famous for his song "Arkansas, You Run Deep in Me", which was written for the 1986 Arkansas Sesquicentennial celebration. It was named one of Arkansas' official state songs in 1987. Holyfield played the song at the inauguration of President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

in 1993.

Leadership and awards

Holyfield was the chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Foundation. He has been a member of the board of directors of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) for almost 25 years. Since 1990, he had served on the

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

board of directors, the first Nashville songwriter to do so, and as of 2007, would have served for almost 17 years. Holyfield received a Grammy Award nomination in 1972 for "

Could I Have This Dance "Could I Have This Dance" is a song recorded by the Canadian country music artist Anne Murray. It was used in the 1980 film ''Urban Cowboy'' and appeared on both the ''Urban Cowboy'' soundtrack album for that film, as well as on the '' Anne Murray ...

", and in 1979, he received the NSAI Presidential Award. Holyfield has won 14 BMI Performance Awards and 16 ASCAP Performance Awards. Holyfield was the 1983 ASCAP Country Writer of the Year co-winner, and in 1992, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Lyrics to "Arkansas (You Run Deep In Me)", from Arkansas Secretary of State's website

Wayland Holyfield Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2013)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Holyfield, Wayland 1942 births 2024 deaths American country songwriters American male songwriters People from Conway County, Arkansas Songwriters from Arkansas University of Arkansas alumni Phi Delta Theta members