John Rich

John Rich (born January 7, 1974) is an American country music singer-songwriter, hit record producer and successful entrepreneur.

John Rich was born on January 7, 1974, in Amarillo, Texas, the son of Jim, a non-denominational preacher and teacher, and Judy Overton Rich.

John graduated from Dickson County Senior High in Dickson, Tennessee, and after graduation moved to Nashville where he worked as a singer at Opryland USA.

He wanted to be a professional team roper.

Not long after, he co-founded the group Texasee, which eventually changed its name to Lonestar.

While in Lonestar, Rich was the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist with Richie McDonald.

From 1992 to 1998, he was a member of the country band Lonestar, in which he played bass guitar, wrote his first #1 song called "Come Cryin'To Me" and alternated with Richie McDonald as lead vocalist.

Their 1996 single "Heartbroke Every Day" was the only one to feature Rich on lead vocals.

Rich also co-wrote two of the band's singles: "Come Cryin' to Me" and "Say When", the former being a number-one single for the group.

After departing from the band in 1998, he embarked on a solo career on BNA Records in the late 1990s, releasing two singles for the label and recording Underneath the Same Moon, which was not released until 2006.

In January 1998, Rich departed from Lonestar, but was never officially replaced, causing Lonestar to continue as a four-piece band.

Afterward, Rich became a solo artist with BNA Records, the same label to which Lonestar was signed.

In the wake of Big & Rich's success, his 1999 solo album Underneath the Same Moon was issued via BNA, coinciding with the release of Big Kenny's previously-unreleased solo album Live a Little.

In 2001, he self-released Rescue Me, an album he was inspired to record by a cancer patient named Katie Darnell.

In 2001, he recorded and self-released Rescue Me, an album he was inspired to record after meeting cancer patient Katie Darnell.

Rich joined Big Kenny in 2002 to form the duo Big & Rich.

By 2003, he joined Big Kenny to form the duo Big & Rich, who released three albums on Warner Bros. Records as well as ten singles, including the Number One "Lost in This Moment".

The duo recorded three studio albums for Warner Bros. Records: Horse of a Different Color, Comin' to Your City and Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace, in 2004, 2005 and 2007 respectively.

These albums accounted for ten singles on the country charts, including the Number One "Lost in This Moment".

Rich also co-wrote all of the duo's singles, primarily with Big Kenny.

Rich was named ASCAP Songwriter of the year for three years in a row from 2005-2007, making him the only artist/writer to ever accomplish this feat in country music.

He charted two singles for the label and recorded an album which did not see release until 2006.

After Big & Rich went on hiatus in 2007, Rich began work on a third solo album, Son of a Preacher Man, which produced two more chart singles including the Top Ten song "Shutting Detroit Down."

He also has a co-write on Taylor Swift's 2008 album, Fearless, titled "The Way I Loved You".

In January 2009, Rich released his third solo single on Warner Bros. Records.

The song, "Another You", is the lead-off single to Rich's second studio album, Son of a Preacher Man, which was released on March 24, 2009.

He followed this song up with another single, "Shuttin' Detroit Down", recorded only one week before its release in January 2009.

Rich promoted the song, which addresses the Chrysler and General Motors bailouts, at Michigan radio stations.

The song debuted at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the chart week of February 14, 2009, becoming his first solo Top 40 hit and peaking at No. 10 in April.

A third single, "The Good Lord and the Man", debuted at No. 59 on the country chart and peaked at No. 56 in July 2009.

Both Rich Rocks and For the Kids have produced one single between them.

Country Done Come to Town was released as a single from Rich Rocks in mid-2010 and became the theme song for his CMT hit reality TV show, "Gone Country."

In 2011, Rich released two extended plays, Rich Rocks and For the Kids, before re-establishing Big & Rich in 2012.

In 2011, Rich recorded a song with heavy metal band Black Label Society, entitled "Darkest Days", featured on their compilation album, The Song Remains Not the Same.

A fourth Big & Rich studio album was released in the summer of 2012, with the inspiring "That's Why I Pray" reaching No. 15 on the country charts.

During Big & Rich's success, Rich also worked as a songwriter and producer for other artists.

His work included production for Gretchen Wilson, Keith Anderson, Jewel and John Anderson as well as country icons Kenny Rogers and Randy Owen.

In the same time span, he co-wrote multiple singles for other artists, including the Number One hits "Redneck Woman" "Here For The Party" "All Jacked Up" "When I Think About Cheating" "California Girls" for Wilson, "Mississippi Girl" "Sunshine and Summertime" and the Grammy winning "Like We Never Loved At All" for Faith Hill Rich also wrote "Hicktown" "Amarillo Sky" "Johnny Cash" and "Why" for Jason Aldean.

Big and Rich launched "Big and Rich Records" in 2014 and scored big hits with "Look At You", "Loving Lately", and "Run Away With You."

In 2016, Rich added his voice to a duet with Marie Osmond on her album Music Is Medicine with the song titled "Love This Tough".