Troy Lee Coleman III (born December 18, 1970), better known by his stage name Cowboy Troy, is an American rapper and singer. He is best known as a representative of the

country rap Country rap (or country hip hop and sometimes hick hop) is a fusion genre of popular music, blending country music with hip hop–style singing or rapping. History Prototypes Early influences on the emergence of country rap as a distinct genre ...

genre. He has released seven studio albums and one EP, including three releases on Warner Bros. Records, and has charted twice 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 ...

'' country singles charts.

Early life

Coleman was born in

Victoria, Texas Victoria is a small city in South Texas and county seat of Victoria County, Texas. The population was 65,534 as of the 2020 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 as of the 2000 cens ...

, on December 18, 1970. He graduated from Skyline High School in the

Dallas Independent School District The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas ( USA). It operates schools in much of Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and the seventeenth-largest in the ...

. Coleman then attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

where he earned a bachelor's degree. Prior to beginning his career as a singer, he worked as the assistant manager of a

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

area

Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in 1988, Foot ...

.Cowboy Troy Bucks Country
''Rolling Stone'' Magazine "When the song took off last year, Troy had to leave his job at a Dallas Foot Locker store to tour with the duo, which was opening for Tim McGraw." May 05, 2005 He got the name Cowboy Troy in college, after a friend used the name to distinguish the cowboy-hat-wearing Coleman from his other friends named Troy.

Career

On May 17, 2005, Troy released his first major-label solo album, ''Loco Motive'', through the RAYBAW records production label and the

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. (trade name, d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York C ...

distribution label. The album debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. The first single, "I Play Chicken with the Train," peaked at No. 48 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart on April 9, 2005 and was the No. 1 country download at the

iTunes Music Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on April 15, 2005. As a Chevrolet promotion, Troy, Wilson, and Big & Rich released "Our America" as a free, time-limited download on July 1, 2005. They also performed the song live at the Boston Pops concert on July 4, 2005. "Our America" combines "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bo ...

" with spoken word of parts of the U.S. Constitution,

Declaration of independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of ...

Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...

and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 " I Have a Dream" speech. The song peaked at No. 44 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, and appears as a bonus track on both Big & Rich's ''

Comin' to Your City ''Comin' to Your City'' is the second studio album by American country music duo Big & Rich, released in 2005. It features the hit singles " Comin' to Your City", "Never Mind Me", and " 8th of November", which peaked at number 21, number 34, and ...

'' and Wilson's '' All Jacked Up'' albums. Cowboy Troy released the single "If You Don't Wanna Love Me", a duet with Sarah Buxton. The single failed to chart, as did the follow-up, "My Last Yee Haw." A promotional single, titled "Hook 'Em Horns", was released on February 14, 2006 after his alma mater ( the Texas Longhorns) won the national championship in football.

2006-present

Cowboy Troy co-hosted, with Jewel, the fifth season of ''

Nashville Star ''Nashville Star'' is an American reality television singing competition program that aired for six seasons, from 2003 to 2008. Its first five seasons aired on USA Network, while the last season aired on NBC. Its five seasons on USA made it the ...

'' on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Mad ...

and CMT Canada. Troy made a special appearance at the March 13, 2006 episode of WWE's ''RAW'' in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Jefferson County, within the Beaumont– Port Arthur metropolitan statistical area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston ( ...

. He came to the announcer's table and helped announce for the match between superstars Edge and Goldust. His entrance music was "My Last Yee Haw." The April 30 episode of WWE's ''Raw'', broadcast from

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, showed Troy in the crowd. The announcers mentioned him, and his duties hosting ''Nashville Star''. In 2007, he released ''Black in the Saddle''. Troy parted ways with Warner Bros. Nashville in 2008. He released ''Demolition Mission: Studio Blue Sessions'' in 2009. Troy returned to Warner Music Nashville to release "King of Clubs" in March 2014. Cowboy Troy was cited as a featured guest artist on two tracks from the 2011

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, ''Hooked'', ...

release titled ''

WTF WTF most often refers to: *WTF (Internet slang), an expression of disbelief WTF may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and online publications *'' The Daily WTF'', a blog about information technology "perversions" *''WTF? What's the ...

'', which is available on iTunes. In 2012, Troy appeared on the May 21 and 22 finale of Season 14 of the television show ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

'', performing "I Play Chicken With the Train." His 2017 single "Pork Chop" was named as the theme for the National Pork Board's October promotion called "Porktober". Troy starred in the 2022 Western film ''Desperate Riders''.

Personal life

Cowboy Troy performed at the 2008

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

. He is a self-described

black conservative Black conservatism is a political and social philosophy rooted in communities of African descent that aligns largely with the conservative ideology around the world. Black conservatives emphasize traditionalism, patriotism, self-sufficiency, ...

and a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

who supported

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

John McCain in the

2008 U.S. presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowboy Troy 1970 births African-American male rappers American country singers Living people Skyline High School (Dallas) alumni Musicians from Dallas Pop rappers People from Victoria, Texas Warner Records artists Rappers from Dallas Texas Republicans Country rap musicians Country musicians from Texas African-American country musicians African-American male singers Singer-songwriters from Texas African-American male songwriters 21st-century American rappers 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people