Steve Wariner
b. 25 December 1954, Noblesville, Indiana, USA. Wariner was playing in his father's country group from the age of 10. One night he had a residency at a club near Indianapolis and the starring attraction, Dottie West, came on stage early to harmonize with him. He then played bass for West and after that, for Bob Luman. Luman recorded several of Wariner's songs, whilst Wariner was to revive Luman's success, Lonely Women Make Good Lovers. He played for Chet Atkins, who took him to RCA Records as a solo performer. Wariner was offered, and rejected, You Needed Me, but in 1978 he had a minor US country hit with his own song, I'm Already Taken, which was subsequently recorded by Conway Twitty. After several other chart records, he had his first country number l in 1981 with All Roads Lead To You but his follow-ups, Kansas City Lights, Midnight Fire and What I Didn't Do, were only moderately successful. Wanting to make records with a stronger country element, he moved to MCA Records in 1985 and had country number l hits with Some Fools Never Learn, You Can Dream On Me (which he wrote with John Hall of Orleans), Love's Highway, Small Town Girl, Lynda (a tribute to actress Lynda Carter who played Wonder Woman) and The Weekend. He has recorded duets with Nicolette Larson (That's How You Know When Love's Right) and Glen Campbell (The Hand That Rocks The Cradle), the latter is one of the strongest influences on his work. After winning a CMA Vocal Event award for his contribution to Mark O'Connor's Restless in 1991, Wariner adopted a tougher image and sound for the highly successful I AM READY.