Roxie Dean (born March 23, 1964) 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 and singer. In 2005, she released her debut album, ''Ms. America''. Her songwriting career includes a 2001 Nashville Songwriters Association International "Top 10 Songs That You Wish You’d Written" award for "Why They Call It Falling" (co-written with

Don Schlitz Donald Allen Schlitz Jr. (born August 29, 1952) is an American songwriter who has written more than twenty number one hits on the country music charts. He is best known for his song " The Gambler" (Kenny Rogers), and as the co-writer of " For ...

), and a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination for co-writing "

When I Think About Angels "When I Think About Angels" is a song by Australian country music artist Jamie O'Neal. Penned by O'Neal, Roxie Dean, and Sonny Tillis and produced by Keith Stegall, it was released on March 12, 2001, as the second single from her debut studio albu ...

Early life and career

Originally from

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, where French was the primary language spoken in her home, Dean recalls her father playing the guitar until she would fall asleep. Before settling in her music career, Dean worked various jobs including retail sales, coordinating events for

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...

, and farming. Dean wrote material during her two years at Iowa’s

Graceland College Graceland University is a private university with campuses in Lamoni, Iowa, and Independence, Missouri. The university offers degree completion and master's degree programs. It also offers undergraduate and graduate programs online. The universi ...

on a softball scholarship and while back in Louisiana completing a journalism degree. After graduation she tried unsuccessfully to establish herself in

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 ...

as a country music artist. She then left for California, where she worked for Toyota. A screening of George Strait’s '' Pure Country'' motivated her return to Nashville. She began to socialize with a friend from Louisiana who was connected to music industry insiders in the city. This friend, along with

Rivers Rutherford Melvern Rivers Rutherford II (born June 17, 1967) is an American country music songwriter. He has written songs since at least the 1990s as a songwriter; he has written several number one country hits including " Ain't Nothing 'bout You" by Brooks ...

(author of

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 ...

's " Ain't Nothing 'bout You",

Chely Wright Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; October 25, 1970) is an American Activism, activist, author, and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the numb ...

's " Shut Up and Drive" and

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 ...

's " If You Ever Stop Loving Me", among others), helped to find her direction.

Later career

Country music producer

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums li ...

offered to let Dean run his farm. While tending the farm, Dean focused on her songwriting and worked with Moman on one of her projects. She co-wrote

Jamie O'Neal Jamie O'Neal (born 3 June 1968) is an Australian-American country music singer and songwriter. In 2000, O'Neal released her first studio album, '' Shiver''. The album included the back-to-back number one singles " There Is No Arizona" and " Wh ...

's number one single "

", and the singles "Why They Call It Falling" by

Lee Ann Womack Lee Ann Womack (; born August 19, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. She has charted 23 times on the American ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts; her highest peaking single there is her crossover signature song, " I Hope You Dance" ...

and "Lonely" by

Tracy Lawrence Tracy Lee Lawrence (born January 27, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Atlanta, Texas, and raised in Foreman, Arkansas, Lawrence began performing at age 15 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 19 ...

. Dean also worked with producer Harold Shedd and publisher Lionel Conway, then with Maverick Music. After the company went out of business, Ginny Johnson of Hamstein Productions called Dean. She then began working with producer

Buddy Cannon Buddy Cannon (born April 20, 1947 in Lexington, Tennessee) is an American country music songwriter and record producer active since the 1970s best known for his work with Kenny Chesney and Willie Nelson. Career Cannon began working in Nashvill ...

James Stroud James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant ...

worked with her beginning in 2001, when she signed with

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Mo Ostin, his son Michael Ostin and Lenny Waronker as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label opera ...

, over which Stroud presided. Dean left the label in 2003. Her song "A Soldier's Wife" was released through Valhalla Music Group. A portion of all of the proceeds were donated to the Armed Forces Relief Trust/Operation Helping Hand. In 2005 Dean released her debut album ''Ms. America'', which included "A Soldier's Wife" and her version of "Why They Call It Falling." She continued her songwriting for other artists; Reba McEntire's '' Room to Breathe'' (2003) featured "My Sister" and Sara Evans' ''

Real Fine Place ''Real Fine Place'' is the fifth studio album by American country music artist Sara Evans. It was released in October 2005 via RCA Records Nashville. It is the follow-up album to the platinum '' Restless.'' It features Evans's fourth number one ...

'' (2005) included "Coalmine", both co-written by Dean. Roxie Dean signed an exclusive publishing contract with HoriPro Entertainment Group in 2008. In 2013, Roxie Dean signed an exclusive publishing deal with Judy Harris Music.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

External links

Official website
at

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

* Roxie Deanat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

ROXIE DEAN@HORIPRO ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Roxie American country singer-songwriters American women country singers Living people 1964 births Graceland Yellowjackets softball players Musicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Singer-songwriters from Louisiana 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers Country musicians from Louisiana