Amazed

Background:

American country music group Lonestar, now comprising of lead singer Cody Collins (joined the group in 2007 after the departure of Richie McDonald), lead guitarist Michael Britt, drummer Keech Rainwater and keyboardist Dean Sams, acquired the zenith of their fame in the late 1990s with their multi-platinum selling record, “Lonely Grill,” which is best known for producing the widely popular crossover hit “Amazed.” The song reached No. 1 on both the country charts and the Billboard Hot 100 and made the group the first country acts to do so since Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton with their 1983 single, “Islands in the Stream.” The album also spawned the top-charted singles “Smile” (1999), “What About Now” and “Tell Her.” Prior to their breakthrough success, Lonestar had two gold albums with the self-tiled debut “Lonestar” (1995) and the sophomore effort “Crazy Nights” (1997) and their first two No. 1 hits with the songs “No News” (1995) and “Come Cryin' to Me” (1997).

Lonestar continued to score victory after “Lonely Grill” with the platinum album “I'm Already There”(2001) and the two-time platinum Greatest hit “From There to Here: Greatest Hits” (2003), but they had to deal with set back following the gold album “Let's Be Us Again” (2004). Since then, they has released “Coming Home” (2005), “Mountains” (2006) and “My Christmas List” (2007), a second Christmas album after 2000's “This Christmas Time.” Their new album,“The Future,” was launched in 2008.

In music industry since 1992, Lonestar has acquired honors from the BMI Awards, Billboard Music Awards in addition to the Academy of Country Music. They also has collected five Grammy nominations. Since “Tequila Talkin'” (1995), their first single to reach Top 10 on the U.S. country music charts, the band has accumulated eighteen Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, nine of which peaked at No. 1. So far, their album has sold more than eight million copies.

Texassee

Childhood and Family:

A native of Texas, keyboardist Dean Sams (born on August 3, 1966) had the intention of forming a group when he was working at the Country Music USA show at the Opryland theme park in Nashville, Tennessee and by the late 1992, he had gathered up singer/songwriter Richie McDonald (born on February 6, 1962, in Lubbock, Texas,) and lead guitarist Michael Britt (born on June 15, 1966, in Fort Worth, Texas), who was a former member of the band Canyon. Britt's ex-band mate in the Canyon, Keech Rainwater (born on January 24, 1963, in Plano, Texas), filled in the drummer position in 1993, and two years later, bass guitarist John Rich completed the original lineup of Lonestar, which first performed in 1992 under the name Texassee. Texassee was deduced from the fact that all five members were Texas natives, and met in Nashville, Tennessee.

After performing together for three years, John Rich departed Lonestar in 1998 and the group has since had no an official bassist. Vocalist Cody Collins was recruited in late 2007 to replace Richie McDonald, who left the group to pursue a solo career.

Lonely Grill

Career:

Billed originally as Texassee, Lonestar made their first public appearance in 1993 in a concert show in Nashville and after winning an agent, they started their hectic touring schedules. During the 1993-1994, the group booked over 500 assignments with approximately four or five sets a night. In one of their shows, the group served as the “house band” at the grand opening of the Wildhorse Saloon dancehall in downtown Nashville.

Lonestar launched a live EP consisting of six songs in 1994 to promote their music. It soon paid off when they were offered a recording deal with BNA Records and in the following year, the boys made their studio debut with “Lonestar,” which debuted at No. 11 on the U.S. Country and No. 69 on Billboard's 200. The first single “Tequila Talkin'” reached No. 8 on the U.S. Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and so did the single “Runnin' Away with My Heart,” which was co-penned by Michael Britt. However, the group did not enjoy a No. 1 country hit until they released the song “No News” as a second single in 1996. Finally, the album was certified gold by RCIAA and the group itself received several honors for their work, including a 1996 Academy of Country Music for Top New Vocal Group.

Lonestar resurfaced two years later with their second album, “Crazy Nights,” a Top 20 hit on the US Country that marked the group last collaboration with bass guitarist/lead vocalist John Rich before he quit in 1998 and embarked on his solo career. Rich co-wrote the singles “Say When” and “Come Cryin' to Me,” the latter of which became the group's second single to top the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart. Other country hits spawned from the album were “Everything's Changed (No. 2), co-written by Richie McDonald, and “You Walked In” (No. 12).

On June 1, 1999, Lonestar released “Lonely Grill,” which debuted at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums and went on to become their breakthrough commercial success with triple-platinum certification from RIAA. Although the first single “Saturday Night” missed the Top 40, the group was catapulted to crossover stardom with the massively successful ballad “Amazed.” The song topped the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart for eight consecutive weeks in 1999, and when it was remixed in the following year, “Amazed” reached No. 1 at Billboard's Hot 100. With the success, Lonestar made a history for being the first country acts to top both prestigious charts since 1983, when Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers attained the same feat with “Islands in the Stream.” The group had their next No. 1 Country hits with the singles “Smile” (1999), “What About Now” and “Tell Her” (both 2000).

Following a Christmas album called “This Christmas Time” (2000), which spawned the charted singles “Winter Wonderland,” “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and “ The Little Drummer Boy,” Lonestar launched the No. 1 country hit album “I'm Already There” in 2001. The title track peaked at No.1 at the US Country and stayed there for six weeks. The follow-ups “With Me” and “Unusually Unusual” respectively reached No. 10 and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. “Not a Day Goes By” (2002), the forth and last single from the album, became a Top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. “I'm Already There” finally earned platinum certification from RIAA.

In 2003, Lonestar released a Greatest Hits called “From There to Here: Greatest Hits.” The album received multi-platinum certification thanks in part to the No. 1 hit single “My Front Porch Looking In” and the Top 10 hit “Walking in Memphis,” a cover version of Marc Cohn's 1991 hit of the same name. An album of totally new materials called “Let's Be Us Again” followed in 2004. Although it managed to produce a No. 1 single with the song “Mr. Mom,” the album showed that Lonestar started to suffer a decline in their careers. It failed to reach platinum certification and only went gold. Lonestar released “Coming Home” in 2005 and “Mountains” in 2006, both of which were not well-received by fans and only produced two singles. 2007 saw the group launch the sophomore Christmas album “My Christmas List.” The same year, vocalist Richie McDonald departed the group to star a solo career and was replaced by Cody Collins.

With a new vocalist, Lonestar launched their new album, “The Future,” in 2008. Its first single is “Let Me Love You.”

Awards:

• Academy of Country Music: Top New Vocal Group, 1996