Steve Wariner

Steve Wariner earned recognition among country music’s most adaptable talents after growing up outside Indianapolis, where radio exposure to the Beatles mingled with his father’s steady listening habits featuring Chet Atkins and George Jones. He began performing in his father’s band and continued appearing in neighborhood clubs throughout high school. At seventeen Dottie West discovered him, invited him into her touring group, and featured him on bass for her 1973 hit single “Country Sunshine.” He later served as a sideman for Bob Luman before RCA Records offered him a singles contract in 1976. Early releases, distinguished by low-tuned guitars and an expansive vocal range, often drew comparisons to Glen Campbell’s initial successes. Momentum arrived with “Your Memory,” which entered the country Top Ten early in 1981, then continued through “By Now” and the December chart-topper “All Roads Lead to You.” Additional singles preceded the eventual release of his debut album, Steve Wariner, in fall 1982. The following year brought further Top Ten entries with “Midnight Fire,” later used as the title of his second album, and “Lonely Women Make Good Lovers.”

Wariner’s profile rose sharply after he moved from RCA to MCA Records in late 1984. His first MCA single, “What I Didn’t Do,” reached the country Top Five by early 1985 and launched a streak of eighteen straight Top Ten hits that included the number-one singles “Some Fools Never Learn,” “You Can Dream of Me,” “Life’s Highway,” “Small Town Girl,” “The Weekend,” “Lynda,” “Where Did I Go Wrong,” and “I Got Dreams,” the final two of which he wrote himself. That run extended into 1990, when he joined Arista Records. The first Arista album, I Am Ready, earned platinum certification—none of his earlier releases had even achieved gold—while his initial three Arista singles all landed inside the Top Ten. In 1991 he shared a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration with Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill for their performance of “Restless” on Mark O’Connor’s album The New Nashville Cats.

A country Top Ten placement arrived with “If I Didn’t Love You” during summer 1993, yet overall sales had begun to slip. His first instrumental project in three years, the 1996 album No More Mr. Nice Guy, failed to chart, although he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry that same year. In 1997 he teamed with Anita Cochran for “What If I Said,” which ascended to number one on the country chart in early 1998 shortly after Garth Brooks took Wariner’s composition “Longneck Bottle” to the top spot. The dual achievement revived his momentum. He signed with Capitol Records, Brooks’s label, and issued “Holes in the Floor of Heaven,” a country Top Five single that captured the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year and Single of the Year honors. His Capitol debut, Burnin’ the Roadhouse Down, climbed into the country Top Ten, attained gold status, and crossed over to the pop Top 50. The 1999 follow-up Two Teardrops also went gold, and that year Wariner earned his second Grammy, again shared, for Best Country Instrumental Performance on Asleep at the Wheel’s track “Bob’s Breakdown.” His third Capitol album, Faith in You, appeared in May 2000.