Lonestar

Lonestar
Lonestar performing in 2007
Background information
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Genre(s)	Country
Years active	1992-present
Label(s)	BNA
Website	http://www.lonestarnow.com/
Members
Michael Britt Cody Collins Keech Rainwater Dean Sams
Former members
Richie McDonald John Rich

Lonestar is an American country music band consisting of lead singer Cody Collins (lead vocals), Michael Britt (lead guitar, harmony vocals), Keech Rainwater (drums) and Dean Sams (keyboards, melodica, harmony vocals). Until September 2007, Richie McDonald was the band's lead singer; he departed in pursuit of a solo career. John Rich, currently one half of country music duo Big & Rich, was also the band's bass guitarist until his 1998 departure; since then, Lonestar has not had an official bass guitarist. Lonestar made its debut on the U.S. country music charts in 1995 with the Top 10 single "Tequila Talkin'". Since then, the band has amassed a total of twenty-seven singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, with nine of those singles reaching Number One. The band's success peaked in 1999 with the release of their signature song "Amazed", a crossover hit that reached Number One on both the country charts and the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first single to do so since Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream" in 1983.^[1] To date, the band has also recorded eight studio albums and a Greatest Hits compilation; three of their albums have been certified gold, while three more have been certified platinum or higher.

Career

Beginnings

Lonestar began in 1992 as a band named Texassee; this name was derived from the fact that all five members were natives of Texas, and met in Nashville, Tennessee's Opryland USA theme park.^[2][3] The original lineup consisted of lead singer Richie McDonald; guitarist Michael Britt; drummer Keech Rainwater; keyboardist Dean Sams; and bass guitarist/co-lead vocalist John Rich. The band's name was later changed to Lonestar. They first played at a concert in Nashville in 1993 and began touring after a booking agent then added the group to his roster. A live EP was released in 1994, shortly before the group signed to BNA Records. Their first single, "Tequila Talkin'", reached a peak of #8 on the U.S. Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was followed by the release of their eponymous debut album.^[2] Certified for gold sales by the RIAA, the album also produced the band's first Number One single in the hit "No News".^[3] In 1996, lead singer Richie McDonald also sang harmony vocals on Mindy McCready's Top 20 single "Maybe He'll Notice Her Now". This song and "Heartbroke Every Day" (the only single on which John Rich sang lead) overlapped on the charts.

Crazy Nights

In 1997, the band released its second album, Crazy Nights. Two of the singles from this album -- "Say When" and "Come Cryin' to Me" (their second Number One) -- were co-written by John Rich, while the 1998 single "Everything's Changed" was co-written by McDonald. Shortly after the release of "Everything's Changed", Rich left to pursue a solo career on BNA, which would later prove unsuccessful. He has since become one half of the successful country rock duo Big & Rich.

Lonely Grill

Lonely Grill, the first album not to include Rich, was released in 1999. Its first single, "Saturday Night", failed to reach Top 40; however, it was soon followed by the ballad "Amazed", which became a highly successful crossover hit. Having spent eight weeks at Number One on the country charts, "Amazed" would later reach Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 as well^[3], making Lonestar the first country act to top both the Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts since 1983, when Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton accomplished the same feat with "Islands in the Stream".^[1]

2000s

Lonestar in 2005, with original lead vocalist Richie McDonald

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The group continued to produce hit singles throughout the 2000s, including the Number One singles "Smile", "Tell Her", "What About Now", "I'm Already There", "My Front Porch Looking In", and "Mr. Mom". Starting with their 2004 album Let's Be Us Again, however, sales and chart performance started to decline. Only two singles were released from their 2005 album Coming Home before the album Mountains was released, also due to disappointing sales.^[4] Guitarist Michael Britt attributes the group's downfall to the label's choices in singles: "I think we painted ourselves into a corner... They (the record label) started putting out a bunch of family-type songs. I think that really pigeonholed us. The majority of the band didn't really want to continue doing that same thing. But that's what kept getting put out."^[4] In 2007, Lonestar was selected to perform "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch of game four of the World Series at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado.

Departure of Richie McDonald

In March 2007, Lonestar parted ways with its record label, BNA Records, due to declining sales. Lead singer Richie McDonald also announced that he would be leaving the group at the end of 2007 in search of a solo career. McDonald released his first solo single, titled "God's Still in America", in July of 2007, just before Cody Collins was confirmed as his replacement.^[5] Lonestar's first compilation with Cody as lead singer is a Christmas music compilation titled My Christmas List, available exclusively at the restaurant and gift shop chain Cracker Barrel.^[6]

Band members

Current

• Michael Britt - lead guitar, harmony vocals (1992-present)
• Cody Collins - lead vocals (September 2007-present)
• Keech Rainwater - drums, percussion (1993-present)
• Dean Sams - keyboards, harmonica, melodica, harmony vocals (1992-present)

Former

• Richie McDonald - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano (1992-2007)
• John Rich - bass guitar, lead and harmony vocals (1995-1998)

Road band

• Colin Whinnery - rhythm guitar
• Kevin Von Der Hofen - bass guitar
• Rob Tyler - fiddle, mandolin, acoustic guitar

Crew Members

• Mark Chamberlain - Tour Manager
• Alex Krompic - Lighting Director
• Jerry Gamble - Stage Manager
• Greg Morton - FOH/Production Manager
• Kevin Lammons - Monitor Engineer
• Rick Pietila - Guitar Tech

Discography

Albums

Singles

• ^AAlbum cut, charted from unsolicited airplay.
• ^BThe country version of "Amazed" peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100. A remixed pop version, released in 2000, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #2 on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.
• ^C"Mountains" also peaked at #100 on US Pop 100.

References

External links

• Lonestar Official Homepage
• Cody Collins at MySpace