Stewart Hamill Harris is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

songwriter. Active since the late 1970s, he has had four compositions which have reached number one 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 chart.

Biography and career

Harris was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

but raised in

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

, where he performed as a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

singer. He then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

before meeting Harry Warner, president of

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", "U.S. Male", " A Thi ...

's publishing company, Vector Music. Through this connection he moved to

Nashville, Tennessee 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 ...

in 1975 and began writing and touring with Reed. Harris also issued one album, ''Sing Me a Rainbow'', on

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

in 1977. Harris also wrote "A Player, a Pawn, a Hero, a King", which was recorded by

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

for the 1978 movie '' Hooper''; this song's success led to further success in film and television soundtrack composition, including the theme song for ''

America's Funniest Home Videos ''America's Funniest Home Videos'', also called ''America's Funniest Videos'' (abbreviated as ''AFV''), is an American video clip television series on ABC, based on the Japanese variety show '' Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan''. The show feat ...

''. Stewart's first chart credit as a songwriter was

Donna Fargo Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People * Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), I ...

's 1978 hit "Ragamuffin Man", which reached top 20 on the ''

'' Hot Country Songs charts. Three years later, he had his first top-five hit on the same chart with Leon Everette's "

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depe ...

", followed by the number-one hits "

Lonely Nights "Lonely Nights" is a song written by Keith Stegall and Stewart Harris Stewart Hamill Harris is an American country music songwriter. Active since the late 1970s, he has had four compositions which have reached number one on the '' Billboard'' ...

" by

Mickey Gilley Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 19 ...

in 1982 and "

Rose in Paradise "Rose in Paradise" is a song written by Stewart Harris and Jim McBride, and recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and ...

" by

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

in 1987.

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and 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 the 20 ...

would also record four of Harris's songs: " I'm Gonna Be Somebody", "

Drift Off to Dream "Drift Off to Dream" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Travis Tritt. It was released in January 1991 as the fifth and final single from his debut album '' Country Club''. It peaked at number 3 in the United State ...

", "

Can I Trust You with My Heart "Can I Trust You With My Heart" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Travis Tritt. It was released in November 1992 as the second single released his CD '' T-R-O-U-B-L-E''. The song reached the top of the ''Billboar ...

", and " If I Lost You". "Can I Trust You with My Heart" and

Wynonna Judd Wynonna Ellen Judd or simply Wynonna ( ; born Christina Claire Ciminella; May 30, 1964) is an American country music singer. She is one of the most widely recognized and awarded female country singers. In all, she has had 19 No. 1 singles, incl ...

's "

No One Else on Earth "No One Else on Earth" is a song written by Jill Colucci, Stewart Harris and Sam Lorber, performed by American country music artist Wynonna. It was released in August 1992 as the third single from Wynonna's self-titled debut album. It was also ...

" both hit number one on Hot Country Songs in 1992. Other artists who had top-ten hits with songs written by Harris include John Berry, Little Texas, Shenandoah,

The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was change ...

, and

Tammy Cochran Tammy Cochran (born January 30, 1972) is an American country music artist. Signed to Epic Records Nashville in 2000, she released her self titled debut album that year, followed a year later by '' Life Happened''. These two albums produced a to ...

. Harris has received ten "Million-Air" awards from

Broadcast Music Incorporated Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 20.6 mil ...

(BMI), honoring songs of his which have received one million spins on radio. He was also nominated by the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country musi ...

in 2002 for both Single of the Year and Song of the year for Cochran's "

Angels in Waiting "Angels in Waiting" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Tammy Cochran. It was released in March 2001 as the third single from her self-titled album. The song peaked at number 9 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks ...

", and he is a member of the

Alabama Music Hall of Fame The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, first conceived by the Muscle Shoals Music Association in the early 1980s, was created by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board, which then saw to its Phase One construction of a facility after a statewide referend ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Stewart American country songwriters Musicians from Birmingham, Alabama Living people Mercury Records artists Songwriters from Alabama Songwriters from South Carolina Year of birth missing (living people)