Ricky Van Shelton

b. 1952, Grit, near Lynchburg, Virginia, USA. Shelton was raised in a church-going family and he learned to love gospel music. His brother worked as a musician and through travelling with him, he also acquired a taste for country music. He worked as a pipefitter but his soon-to-be wife, Bettye, realized his singing potential and, in 1984, suggested that they went to Nashville where she had secured a personnel job. In 1986 he impressed producer Steve Buckingham during a club performance, and his first recording session yielded a US Top 30 country hit in Wild-Eyed Dream. He then made the country Top 10 with one of his best records, the dramatic story-song, Crimes Of Passion. In 1987 he had a US country number l by reviving a song from a Conway Twitty album, Somebody Lied. In 1988 he had another number l by reviving Harlan Howard's song, Life Turned Her That Way, which, unlike Merle Tillis, he performed in its original 4/4 tempo. His revival of an obscure Roger Miller song, Don't We All Have The Right, also went to number l, thus giving him five country hits from his first album. Since then, he has had US country number l's with revivals of I'll Leave This World Loving You, From A Jack To A King and a new song, Living Proof. Although Shelton has much in common with his hard-nosed contemporaries, he succumbed to a middle-of-the-road album of familiar Christmas songs. He recorded a duet of Sweet Memories with Brenda Lee, whilst Rockin Years’ with Dolly Parton was a number l country single in 1991. To help his career, Shelton's wife has been studying law, whilst he knows that he must conquer his fear of flying. In 1992, Shelton recorded an album of semi-spiritual material, DON'T OVERLOOK SALVATION, as a gift to his parents, before scoring more hits with the new recordings included on GREATEST HITS PLUS.