Richard Leigh

Richard Leigh has been a professional songwriter since the age of 23. His 1st break came in 1976 when Crystal Gayle recorded “I’ll Get Over You” and the song went to #1 on the Billboard Country Charts. This was made all the sweeter when the song garnered Leigh his first of now seven “Song of the Year” nominations, this one from the Country Music Association (CMA). Two years later, he was back at the CMA’s, this time to win the Song of the Year award for “Don’t It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue”, which itself had a phenomenal career, reaching the #1 position on both Pop and country charts and remaining on the charts for more than 6 months; it won a Grammy Award for “Best Country Song”; was a million selling single and was named one of the ten most performed “Country Songs of the Century” at the 1999 ASCAP Awards. To date, Leigh has made 14 trips to the Top Ten and has written or co-written 8 #1 singles: the hauntingly beautiful “Somewhere in My Broken Heart”(written with Billy Dean); “The Greatest Man I Never Knew”(written with Layng Martine, Jr.); “Come From the Heart”(written with Susanna Clark and recorded by Kathy Mattea); Don Williams, “That’s the Thing About Love,”( written with Gary Nicholson); Steve Wariner’s “Life’s Highway,” written with Roger Murrah); Mickey Gilley’s “Put Your Dreams Away,” (written with Waylan Hollyfield); and the afore-mentioned “I’ll Get Over You” and “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”, both written by Leigh and recorded by Crystal Gayle. Leigh has just enjoyed his first hit of the 21st Century. His most recent Top Ten hit “Cold Day In July” recorded by the Dixie Chicks is a testament to his longevity. A long list of other artists have recorded Richard Leigh tunes including Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy, Clark, the Bellamy Brothers, George Jones, K.T. Oslin, Ronnie Milsap, Marie Osmond, Conway Twitty, Shenandoah, Perry Como, Suzy Bogus, Tammy Wynette, Connie Francis, Bill Medley, B.J. Thomas, Debbie Boone, Ricky Skaggs, Lorie Morgan, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Kitty Wells, Bobby Bare, Martina McBride, Anne Murray, Alabama, and the great Ray Charles. Richard’s latest release Black Tie promises to be one of his greatest artistic works yet.