Randy Yeuell Owen (born December 13, 1949) is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

musician. He is best known for his role as the lead singer of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, a

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

band that saw commercial success throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Alabama became the most successful band in country music, releasing over 20 gold and platinum records, dozens of number 1 singles, and selling over 75 million records during their career. Owen also maintains a career as a solo performer. He released his solo debut '' One on One'' in late 2008 and charted two singles from it. Owen was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019.

Biography

Randy Yeuell Owen grew up on a farm near Fort Payne, Alabama. He is of English and Scots ancestry. He dropped out of high school in the ninth grade, but he returned and graduated from Fort Payne High in 1969. In the late 1960s, Owen and his cousin, Teddy Gentry, began playing music together. They recruited another cousin, Jeff Cook, to form a band, which they called Wildcountry. Their first public performance was at a high school talent show, which they won. Owen's music career was put on hiatus as he earned an English degree from Jacksonville State University. He was also a member of Pi Kappa Phi, Delta Epsilon chapter. Upon his graduation, however, the three cousins moved into an apartment in

Anniston, Alabama Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...

, and by 1973 were pursuing a full-time music career. In 1980, the band, now called

, were signed to a recording contract by RCA Records and quickly reached country superstardom. For the next twenty-two years, Alabama had a tremendous impact on

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 ...

, attracting a younger group of listeners, crossing over into pop radio, and paving the way for groups to be successful on country radio. Alabama released 21 gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums, 42 singles that topped the charts at #1, and sold over 75 million records in total. They have a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

and were named the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

's Artist of the Decade in 1989, and the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

's Country Group of the Century in 1999. In May 2002, the band announced their retirement during the

Awards telecast. For the rest of 2002 and 2003, they performed throughout the country in their American Farewell Tour. In 2005, the band was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Owen lives on his cattle ranch outside Fort Payne. He currently serves as an at-large member of the Board of Trustees of Jacksonville State University. In 2007, he was a judge on Season 5 of the country talent show '' Nashville Star''. Owen took over hosting duties for ''Country Gold'', the Saturday night classic country request program on Westwood One, beginning July 21, 2012. The show was reformatted upon Owen's arrival, switching to a pre-recorded format (the show's predecessor, ''Country Gold Saturday Night'', was originally live.) Requests were handled by an answering machine and the program was voicetracked from Owen's home, drifting to a more open-ended "traditional country" format (one that includes more 1990s songs and even some 2000s songs along with country-pop tunes more commonly associated with the classic hits format while moving away from the core songs of the classic country format) and shortening the show from five hours to four. Less than a year after Owen's arrival, previous ''Country Gold'' host Rowdy Yates relaunched his version of the show as "The Original Country Gold" through Compass Media Networks. Owen ended his run as host on April 2, 2016, with Canadian-born singer Terri Clark replacing him the following weekend. Clark hosted the show until the weekend of September 7th, 2024.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

2022 Gaither Easter Marathon “I Need Thee Every Hour” featuring Randy Owen and The Issacs.

Publications

*''Born Country: My Life in Alabama – How Faith, Family, and Music Brought Me Home''. HarperOne (2008)

References

External links

Alabama Official WebsiteCMT Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Randy 1949 births People from Fort Payne, Alabama American people of English descent American people of Scottish descent American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Living people Alabama (American band) members BBR Music Group artists Jacksonville State University alumni American radio personalities Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Members of the Country Music Association Alabama Republicans Singer-songwriters from Alabama Judges in American reality television series