Robert John DiPiero (born March 3, 1951) 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. He has written 15 US number one hits and several Top 20 singles for

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

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 ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

, Shenandoah,

Neal McCoy Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. (born July 30, 1958), known professionally as Neal McCoy and previously as Neal McGoy, is an American country music singer. He has released 10 studio albums on various labels, and has released 34 singles to country radio ...

Highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drum ...

Restless Heart Restless Heart was an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band's longest-tenured lineup consisted of Larry Stewart (singer), Larry Stewart (lead vocals), John Dittrich (drums, vocals), Paul Gregg (bass guitar, vocals), Dav ...

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

, John Anderson,

Montgomery Gentry Montgomery Gentry is an American country music duo/solo act founded by singers Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, both Kentucky natives. They began performing together in the 1990s as part of two different bands with Montgomery's brother, John ...

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1988 through the suggestion of songwriter and record producer, Tim DuBois. Before thei ...

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

Pam Tillis Pamela Yvonne Tillis (born July 24, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is the eldest child of country singer Mel Tillis. After recording unsuccessful pop material for Elektra Records, Elektra ...

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

Trace Adkins Tracy Darrell Adkins (born January 13, 1962) known professionally as Trace Adkins, is an American country music singer and actor. Adkins made his debut in 1996 with the album ''Dreamin' Out Loud'', released on Capitol Records Nashville. Since t ...

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In t ...

, Bryan White,

Billy Currington William Matthew Currington (born November 19, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Universal Music Group Nashville, Mercury Records Nashville in 2003, he has released seven studio albums for the label: his Billy Cur ...

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

Delbert McClinton Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, h ...

, Van Zant,

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. During her career Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood ...

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

, and many others.

Early years

DiPiero was born in the steel-manufacturing center of Youngstown, Ohio. His family moved to the suburban township of Liberty, Ohio. DiPiero graduated from Liberty High School (Ohio) in 1969. He graduated from Youngstown State University's Dana School of Music. He participated in hard rock bands in northeastern Ohio throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1979, DiPiero moved to

Nashville 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 ...

. He worked as a session player and traveling musician, then moved into songwriting.

Songwriting career

DiPiero's first number one hit as a songwriter was 1983's "American Made" by

; it also became a national advertisements jingle for Miller Beer and Baby Ruth candybar. Since then, DiPiero co-wrote countless hit singles for other country music artists, with 15 of his songs reaching No. 1 on the country music charts. In 1995 and 1996, he received the Triple Play award from the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

for 3 number one singles charted in each of those years. In addition, he has 36 awards from BMI for his contributions as a songwriter. He was also one third of the country music supergroup Billy Hill; members included Dennis Robbins and

John Scott Sherrill John Scott Sherrill is an American songwriter whose work is primarily in the field of country music. His brother, Donn Sherrill, was a student at Vanderbilt, where he introduced John Scott to his fraternity brother, Scott Siman, who recorded demos ...

. He helped make Nashville a port-of-call for legendary performers from all genres, writing with Neil Diamond, Carole King, Johnny Van Zant, and Delbert McClinton, among many others. At one point, DiPiero was married to country music artist

, the daughter of singer

Mel Tillis Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, ...

. The couple divorced. On June 18, 2006, he married music publisher, Leslie Tomasino. DiPiero launched a music industry-based reality series called "The Hitmen of Music Row" premiering September 26, 2007, on the

Great American Country Great American Family is an American cable television network owned by Great American Media. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming such as television series and Television film, made-for-TV movies—some of whi ...

cable station. Songwriter participants in the series include Tony Mullins,

Jeffrey Steele Jeffrey LeVasseur (born August 27, 1961), known as Jeffrey Steele, is an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than 60 hit ...

, and

Craig Wiseman Craig Michael Wiseman is an American country music songwriter and producer, and the owner/founder of the Big Loud enterprise. He has been writing since the late 1980s, and his songs have been recorded by Lorrie Morgan, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesn ...

Awards

*1984: Music City News Top Country Hit of the Year- "American Made-The Oak Ridge Boys" *1990: NSAI Award for Superior Creativity-"The Church On Cumberland Road-Shenandoah" *1993: NSAI Award for Superior Creativity-"Cleopatra, Queen of Denial-Pam Tillis" *1994: The Songwriters Guild Of America in recognition of the success of the hit song "Wink-Neal McCoy" *1994: NSAI Award for Superior Creativity-"Walking Away A Winner-

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that reac ...

" *1995: CMA Triple Play Award (Three No. 1 songs in a 12-month period) "Wink-

," "Take Me As I Am-

," Till You Love Me-

" *1995: BMI Robert J. Burton Award Most Performed Country Song of the Year-"Wink-

" *1996: CMA Triple Play Award (Three No. 1 songs in a 12-month period) "Blue Clear Sky-

," "Daddy's Money-

," "World's Apart-

" *1997: Country Music Radio Awards – Song of the Year ("Worlds Apart" by

) *1998: Nashville Music Awards – Songwriter of the Year *2000: Sony / A TV, Nashville – Songwriter of the Year. *2001: BMI 50 Most Performed Songs of the Year *2004: BMI 50 Most Performed Songs of the Year-"Cowboy's Like Us-

" "You Can't Take The Honky Tonk Out Of The Girl-

" *2005: BMI Most Performed Songs of the Year-"Gone-

," "If You Ever Stop Loving Me-

" *2006: BMI 50 Most Performed Songs of the Year-"She Don't Tell Me To-

" *2007: Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee *2007: Nashville Walk of Fame inductee *2010: 17 Million-Air Honors (BMI) *2017: BMI Icon

Singles written or co-written by Bob DiPiero

*1983 " American Made" –

*1983 " Sentimental Ol' You" – Charly McClain *1986 " That Rock Won't Roll" –

*1986 "The First Of Me" - Dennis Robbins *1986 "

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

" –

*1988 " (Do You Love Me) Just Say Yes" –

*1989 "No Chance To Dance" -

Johnny Rodriguez Juan Raoul Davis "Johnny" Rodriguez (December 10, 1951 – May 9, 2025) was an American country music singer from Texas. In the 1970s and 1980s, Rodriguez was one of country music's most successful male artists, recording a string of hit songs, ...

*1989 "

The Church on Cumberland Road "The Church on Cumberland Road" is a song written by Bob DiPiero, John Scott Sherrill and Dennis Robbins, and recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in January 1989 as the second single from their album '' The Road ...

" – Shenandoah *1989 "Too Much Month at the End of the Money" - Billy Hill *1990 "Nickel To My Name" - Billy Hill *1990 "No Chance To Dance" - Billy Hill *1990 "Blue Angel" - Billy Hill *1992 " Anywhere but Here" –

Sammy Kershaw Samuel Paul Cashat (born February 24, 1958), known professionally as Sammy Kershaw, is an American country music singer. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 2 ...

*1992 " Blue Rose Is" –

*1992 " Mirror, Mirror" –

Diamond Rio Diamond Rio is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Marty Roe (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy Olander (lead guitar, banjo), Dan Truman (keyboards), Dana Williams (bass guitar, vocals), Micah Schweinsberg ( ...

*1992 "Home Sweet Home" - Dennis Robbins *1992 "My Side Of Town" - Dennis Robbins *1992 "Good News, Bad News" - Dennis Robbins *1993 " Money in the Bank" – John Anderson *1993 " Cleopatra, Queen of Denial" –

*1994 " Kiss Me, I'm Gone" –

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country music, country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before be ...

*1994 " Take Me as I Am" –

*1994 "

Wink A wink is a facial expression made by briefly closing one eye. A wink is an informal mode of non-verbal communication usually signaling shared hidden knowledge or intent. However, it is ambiguous by itself and highly dependent upon additional c ...

" –

*1994 " Till You Love Me" –

*1994 " Walking Away a Winner" –

*1995 " They're Playin' Our Song" –

*1995 " Should've Asked Her Faster" – Ty England *1996 " Blue Clear Sky" –

*1996 " It's Lonely Out There" –

*1996 "Love You Back" –

Rhett Akins Thomas Rhett Akins Sr. (born October 13, 1969) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Decca Records between 1994 and 1997, he released two albums for that label (1995's ''A Thousand Memories'' and 1996's ''Somebody New (a ...

*1996 " Daddy's Money" –

*1996 "See Rock City" – Rick Trevino *1997 " Worlds Apart" –

*1998 " Bad Day to Let You Go" – Bryan White *1998 "Poor Me" –

Joe Diffie Joe Logan Diffie (December 28, 1958 – March 29, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. After working as a demo (music), demo singer in the mid 1980s, he signed with Epic Records' Nashville division in 1990. Between then and ...

*1998 "The Other Side of This Kiss" –

Mindy McCready Malinda Gayle McCready (November 30, 1975 – February 17, 2013) was an American country music singer. Active from 1995 until her death in 2013, she recorded a total of five studio albums. Her debut album, 1996's '' Ten Thousand Angels'', w ...

*1999 "Give My Heart to You" –

Billy Ray Cyrus William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...

*1999 " Ordinary Love" – Shane Minor *2000 " There You Are" –

*2000 " We're So Good Together" –

*2003 " Cowboys Like Us" –

*2003 "I'll Take Love Over Money" – Aaron Tippin *2003 " You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl" –

*2003 "Too Much Month (At the End of the Money)" –

and His Fabulous Superlatives *2004 " If You Ever Stop Loving Me" –

*2004 " The Girl's Gone Wild" –

*2005 " Gone" –

*2005 "Hillbilly Nation" – Cowboy Crush *2005 "So Good for So Long" – Beccy Cole ('' Feel This Free'') *2005 " XXL" – Keith Anderson *2006 "Local Girls" –

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...

*2006 " She Don't Tell Me To" –

*2006 "Tennessee Girl" –

*2009 "

Indian Summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or mor ...

" –

*2009 " Southern Voice" –

*2010 " From a Table Away" – Sunny Sweeney *2012 " Lovin' You Is Fun" – Easton Corbin *2012 "It's My Life" –

Connie Britton Connie Britton (born Constance Elaine Womack; March 6, 1967) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. She gained prominence for her roles in the television series ''S ...

*2014 " Drunk Americans" -

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 ...

*2014 "Headlights" –

*2015 " Boys Like You" – Who Is Fancy featuring

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

and

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

*2018 "Tacoma" cowritten with Caitlin Smith, also performed by Garth Brooks *2020 "Me About Me" – RaeLynn

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dipiero, Bob American country guitarists American country singer-songwriters Living people Writers from Youngstown, Ohio 1951 births Country musicians from Ohio American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Ohio