John Rich
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John Rich (born January 7, 1974) 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 ...
singer-songwriter. From 1992 to 1998, he was a member of the country band
Lonestar Lonestar (formerly known as Texassee) is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Drew Womack (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (key ...
, in which he played bass guitar and alternated with Richie McDonald as lead vocalist. After departing from the band in 1998, he embarked on a solo career on BNA Records in the late 1990s, releasing two singles for the label and recording '' Underneath the Same Moon'', which was not released until 2006. In 2001, he self-released ''Rescue Me'', an album he was inspired to record by a cancer patient named Katie Darnell. By 2003, he joined Big Kenny to form the duo
Big & Rich Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a sol ...
, who released three albums on
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
as well as ten singles, including the Number One " Lost in This Moment". After Big & Rich went on hiatus in 2007, Rich began work on a third solo album, '' Son of a Preacher Man'', which has produced two more chart singles. In 2011, Rich released two extended plays, '' Rich Rocks'' and '' For the Kids'', before re-establishing Big & Rich in 2012.


Music career


Lonestar

John Rich was born on January 7, 1974, in
Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...
, the son of Jim, a Baptist preacher, and Judy Overton Rich. John graduated from Dickson County Senior High in
Dickson, Tennessee Dickson is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Located in Dickson County. It is part of the Nashville metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, Dickson's population was 16,058. History Dickson was named for Congressman William Dickson, as ...
and after graduation 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 ...
where he worked as a singer at
Opryland USA Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially known as Opryland) was a amusement park, theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The park was located between the Cumberland River and Tennessee State Route 155, Briley Pa ...
. He wanted to be a professional team roper. Not long after, he met up with the group Texasee, which eventually changed its name to Lonestar. While in Lonestar, Rich was the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist with Richie McDonald. Their 1996 single " Heartbroke Every Day" was the only one to feature Rich on lead vocals. Rich also co-wrote two of the band's singles: " Come Cryin' to Me" and " Say When", the former being a number-one single for the group. In January 1998, Rich departed from Lonestar, but was never officially replaced, causing Lonestar to continue as a four-piece band. Afterward, Rich became a solo artist with BNA Records, the same label to which Lonestar was signed. He charted two singles for the label and recorded an album which did not see release until 2006. In 2001, he recorded and self-released ''Rescue Me'', an album he was inspired to record after meeting cancer patient Katie Darnell.


Big & Rich

Rich joined Big Kenny in 2002 to form the duo
Big & Rich Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a sol ...
. The duo recorded three studio albums for
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
: '' Horse of a Different Color'', '' Comin' to Your City'' and '' Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace'', in 2004, 2005 and 2007 respectively. These albums accounted for ten singles on the country charts, including the Number One " Lost in This Moment". Rich also co-wrote all of the duo's singles, primarily with Big Kenny. In the wake of Big & Rich's success, his 1999 solo album '' Underneath the Same Moon'' was issued via BNA, coinciding with the release of Big Kenny's previously unreleased solo album '' Live a Little''. A fourth Big & Rich studio album was released in the summer of 2012, with the inspiring "That's Why I Pray" reaching No. 15 on the country charts.


Work for other artists

During Big & Rich's success, Rich also worked as a songwriter and producer for other artists. His work included production for Gretchen Wilson, Keith Anderson, Jewel and John Anderson. In the same time span, he co-wrote multiple singles for other artists, including the Number One hits " Redneck Woman" for Wilson, " Mississippi Girl" for
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 ...
and "
Why Why may refer to: * Causality, a consequential relationship between two events * Reason (argument), a premise in support of an argument, for what reason or purpose * Grounding (metaphysics), a topic in metaphysics regarding how things exist in v ...
" for
Jason Aldean Jason Aldine Williams (born February 28, 1977), known professionally as Jason Aldean, is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released eleven alb ...
. He also has a co-write on
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's 2008 album '' Fearless'', titled " The Way I Loved You". In 2011, Rich recorded a song with heavy metal band Black Label Society, entitled "Darkest Days", featured on their compilation album, '' The Song Remains Not the Same''. In 2016, Rich added his voice to a duet with
Marie Osmond Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television personality, author, and businesswoman. She is known for her girl next door, girl-next-door image and her decades-long career in many different areas. Her musi ...
on her album '' Music Is Medicine'' with the song titled "Love This Tough".


''Son of a Preacher Man''

In January 2009, Rich released his third solo single on Warner Bros. Records. The song, "Another You", is the lead-off single to Rich's second studio album, '' Son of a Preacher Man'', which was released on March 24, 2009. He followed this song up with another single, " Shuttin' Detroit Down", recorded only one week before its release in January 2009. Rich promoted the song, which addresses the
Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...
and
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
bailouts, at Michigan radio stations. The song debuted at No. 34 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 ...
''
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 for the chart week of February 14, 2009, becoming his first solo Top 40 hit and peaking at No. 10 in April. A third single, "The Good Lord and the Man", debuted at No. 59 on the country chart and peaked at No. 56 in July 2009.


''Rich Rocks'' and ''For the Kids''

Both '' Rich Rocks'' and '' For the Kids'' have only produced one single between them. ''Country Done Come to Town'' was released as a single from ''Rich Rocks'' in mid-2010 and was a minor chart success.


Television work

In 2007, Rich hosted the first season of a reality show on
Country Music Television Country Music Television, often abbreviated to CMT, is an American pay TV network that launched on March 5, 1983. It is currently owned by Paramount Global through the MTV Entertainment Group unit of its networks division. CMT was the first na ...
called '' Gone Country'', which featured celebrities such as Brady Bunch actress
Maureen McCormick Maureen Denise McCormick (born August 5, 1956) is an American actress, best known for her role as Characters of The Brady Bunch#Marcia Brady, Marcia Brady on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television sitcom ''The Brady Bunch'' (1969–1 ...
, singers
Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown Sr. (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, he is recognized as a pioneer of new jack swing: a fusion of hip-hop and Contemporary R&B, R ...
, Sisqo, Julio Iglesias Jr., Dee Snider,
Carnie Wilson Carnie Wilson (born April 29, 1968) is an American singer and television personality. She is the daughter of Brian Wilson and in 1989 co-founded the pop music trio Wilson Phillips with her younger sister Wendy. From 1995 onwards, she has also b ...
and
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
runner-up Diana DeGarmo as they try to become songwriters with the help of
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 ...
songwriters as the celebrities are paired together with the songwriters. The show was filmed at the former home of Barbara Mandrell. He has hosted two more seasons since then. Rich also served as a judge on the 2008 version 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 l ...
'' on NBC along with Jewel, singer-songwriter
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 host
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 ...
. Rich was a candidate in the 2011 season of '' The Celebrity Apprentice'', which premiered on March 6. In episode 5, he lost as Project Manager for the men's team, Backbone. Despite the first loss, he later won 2 more tasks as Project Manager, raising $1,266,908 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Rich competed with
Marlee Matlin Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, activist, and author. Deafness, Deaf since she was 18 months old, Matlin is known for her portrayals of deaf women, and for her activism on behalf of deaf individuals in Cinema of the ...
in the live season finale, where he was declared the season winner, and received an additional $250,000 for his charity. Rich served as a mentor in the 2012 reality/competition series '' The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep''.


Personal life

John Rich and his wife, Joan, married on December 6, 2008. He has two sons, Cash and Colt.


Political views

Rich is a strong supporter of the Republican Party. In the 2008 U.S. presidential race, Rich originally supported
Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a Unite ...
. He performed in the closing ceremony of the
Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...
on September 3, 2008. He endorsed President Trump in 2016, 2020 and again in 2024. He remains a friend and ally to President Trump. On April 7, 2015, Rich's song "Shuttin' Detroit Down" was featured in Senator
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
's 2016 presidential campaign announcement. He later declared his support for presumptive nominee
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
following Paul's exit from the race. Big & Rich would later perform at a pre-inaugural ceremony on January 19, 2017, after Trump's victory in the
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
. On May 30, 2019, he released "Shut Up About Politics" featuring presenters of the
Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
programme '' The Five''. In July 2022, Rich released the politically charged "Progress", a song harshly condemning various "progressive" political ideologies. "Progress" reached No. 1, and stayed there for two consecutive weeks on the all genre iTunes download chart. The following year, he released the similarly political song "I'm Offended", which landed in the Top 5 most downloaded songs on the Itunes all genre chart. He also scored #1 download positions with his songs "Earth To God" and "Santa's Got A Dirty Job." His song "Revelation" was released in July of 2024, and reached the #2 position on the all genre iTunes download chart. In April 2023, Rich was one of many musicians to express support for the Bud Light boycott, announcing that he would no longer sell Anheuser-Busch products at his bar.


Discography


Studio albums


Extended plays


Singles

*A "I Pray for You" also peaked at number 63 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Country Tracks chart.


Featured singles


Videography


Music videos


Guest appearances


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, John 1974 births American country bass guitarists American country singer-songwriters Big & Rich members Living people Musicians from Amarillo, Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas Warner Records artists Lonestar members BNA Records artists Texas Republicans Reprise Records artists American country record producers Guitarists from Texas American male bass guitarists People from Dickson, Tennessee 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from Texas Country musicians from Tennessee Record producers from Texas 21st-century American bass guitarists Participants in American reality television series The Apprentice (American TV series) winners American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Judges in American reality television series