Dwight Yoakam
b. 23 October 1956, Pikeville, Kentucky, USA. Yoakam, the eldest of three children, moved with his family to Columbus, Ohio, when he was two. A singer/songwriter with an early love of the honky-tonk country music of Buck Owens and Lefty Frizzell, he has always shown a distinct antipathy towards the Nashville pop/country scene. After an abortive spell studying philosophy and history at Ohio University, he briefly sought Nashville success in the mid-70s, but his music was rated too country even for the Grand Ole Opry. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1978 and worked the clubs, playing with various bands including Los Lobos, but for several years he worked as a truck driver to sustain himself. In 1984, the release of a mini album on the Enigma label led to him signing for Warner Brothers. Two years later he registered Top 5 US country chart hits with Johnny Horton's Honky Tonk Man and his own Guitars, Cadillacs. His driving honky-tonk music made him a popular visitor to Britain and gave him some success in the USA, but his outspoken views denied him wider fame. In 1987 he scored with his version of the old Elvis Presley pop hit Little Sister. He followed it in 1988 with a US country number 9 hit with his idol Lefty Frizzell's classic Always Late (With Your Kisses), and a number 1 with his self-penned I Sang Dixie. He would also make the top of the country charts with The Streets Of Bakersfield, duetting with veteran '60s superstar Buck Owens. Yoakam played several concerts with Owens, after being instrumental in persuading him to come out of retirement and record again for Capitol. Like Don Williams and others, he seems permanently attached to his stetson, perhaps due to his receeding hairline, while the graphic designers of his album sleeves would seem to suggest that his long jean-clad legs and backside are his main selling features. There seems little doubt that Yoakam's songwriting talents and singing style will ensure further major success and some of his honky-tonk music has done much to attract the rock audiences, much in the way that Garth Brooks has done. His straight country style is his most effective, however: his attempt to cross over into the mainstream rock market with the ill-conceived LA CROIX D'AMOUR was little short of a disaster. Though by nature shy of publicity, he earned notoriety by the bucketload when he arrived at the 1992 Academy Awards with Sharon Stone on his arm. She would go public on the affair when their relationship ended, though Yoakam would maintain a dignified silence. He has also recently turned his hand to acting, appearing in a Los Angeles stage production, Southern Rapture, directed by Peter Fonda.