Gene Cotton (born June 30, 1944 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American pop and folk singer-songwriter. He is best known for his four ''Billboard'' top 40 entries during the years 1976–1978. In the UK, he is most famous for the song "Me and the Elephant," which failed to make the top 40 best sellers, but was an airplay hit.

History

Cotton has been a resident of Leiper's Fork, Tennessee since the late 1970s. Between the late 1990s and mid 2000s, Cotton scaled back his career as a singer and songwriter and spent much of his savings on a legal battle against the construction of Interstate 840 which surrounds Nashville, which substantially delayed the completion of the route and led to a partial redesign of one section. Cotton, the father of two adopted children and one biological child, has devoted himself to helping the

underprivileged Social privilege is a theory of special advantage or entitlement, which benefits one person, often to the detriment of others. Privileged groups can be advantaged based on education, social class, caste, age, height, weight, nationality, geogra ...

of his area by motivating them in their studies and activities through a program called Kids on Stage (KOS). KOS brings in Nashville artists to run summer classes that open the doors to the

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

to kids who might otherwise never see greatness or think about greatness in their arts. Most notably,

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

winner Michael McDonald has performed numerous times to bring awareness and raise

donation A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as ...

s for this program under Cotton's

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

, besides producing independent films about the plight of the poor around the world. Cotton was instrumental in 1970s pop singer Michael Johnson's career. In 2001, Cotton lost a race for a seat in District 63 of the Tennessee House of Representatives, to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Glen Casada Richard Glen Casada Jr. (born August 2, 1959) is an American politician, member of the Republican Party in the Tennessee House of Representatives, where he represents District 63 ( Williamson County). He was the Speaker of the Tennessee House of ...

. Casada won 3,185

vote Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an Constituency, electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision making, decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election camp ...

s to Cotton's 1,554 in a special election in which only 13 percent of registered voters cast

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...

s. Both Casada and Cotton campaigned on strong opposition to proposals for a state income tax.

Discography

Albums

Singles

;Commercial Singles ;Promotional Singles

References

External links

*
Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Gene 1944 births Living people American male singer-songwriters Ariola Records artists Myrrh Records artists Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Singer-songwriters from Ohio