Billy Ray Hoffman is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer and songwriter. He released one album, ''All I Wanted Was You'', in 2000. This album charted the singles "Perfect Night" and "You're the Ticket".

Biography

Billy Ray Hoffman was born in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and raised in

Poteau, Oklahoma Poteau ( ) is a city in, and county seat of, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,520 as of the 2010 census. History In 1719, Bernard de la Harpe led a group of French explorers through this area and gave the river its ...

. He was born with a hearing problem and is only three percent away from being

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

. He also learned to play guitar to gain dexterity after being born with underdeveloped hands. In 2000, he was the first artist signed to Critter Records, which was managed by

Joe Stampley Joe Stampley (born June 6, 1943) is an American country music singer. He had success as the lead singer of a rock group, in a country duo with Moe Bandy and as a solo performer. Stampley has released over 20 albums and more than 60 singles in ...

. Stampley produced Hoffman's debut album, which included a cover of Paul Davis' " I Go Crazy." Two singles from the album charted on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. The album received a mixed review from Ray Waddell of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', who wrote that "while lacking the vocal gymnastics heard in much of what populates current country radio, Hoffman's easygoing style mostly serves this material well." Hoffman retired from the music business after his first album and moved back to Poteau to focus on various business ventures.

Discography

''All I Wanted Was You'' (2000)

Track listing

#"All I Wanted Was You" (

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...

) - 4:01 #" I Go Crazy" ( Paul Davis) - 4:42 #"Destination Unknown" (Tom Botkin, Les Rawlins, Donnie Skaggs) - 3:22 #"Crossing Fences" (Botkin, Toni Dae, Elliott James) - 3:56 #"It Just Hurts a Little" (Botkin, Skaggs, Hoffman) - 3:40 #"You're the Ticket" (Jess Brown, Wade Kirby,

Keith Follesé Keith Follesé (born 1951 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American songwriter and co-founder of Midas Records Nashville. Early in his career, Follesé recorded with his wife, Adrienne, on A&M Records. They never released an album, and moved to ...

) - 2:37 #"One Bad Habit" (Tony Stampley, Hoffman) - 3:24 #"Perfect Night" (Stampley, Dae) - 3:25 #"You Call That a Mountain" (Michael Garvin, Bucky Jones) - 3:25 #"Saved by a Southern Belle" (

Marv Green Marv Green (born in California) is an American country music songwriter. He is known for co-writing Lonestar's 1999 single "Amazed", which reached number 1 on both the Hot Country Songs and ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts. This song won him a Song ...

Trey Bruce Trey Edwin Bruce is an American songwriter. Bruce has written ten Number One singles on the ''Billboard''. "Look Heart, No Hands", "Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man" and "Whisper My Name" by Randy Travis, and "How Your Love Makes Me Feel" by Dia ...

) - 3:12

Personnel

From ''All I Wanted Was You'' liner notes. *Larry Beaird - acoustic guitar *Dennis Burnside - piano, organ *Mike Chapman - bass guitar *

J. T. Corenflos Jerry Troy "J. T." Corenflos (November 6, 1963 – October 24, 2020), was an American session musician and country guitarist, who played on an estimated 75 Number One hit records as well as hundreds of other recordings and hits. He received 14 ...

- lead guitar *Jeffrey C. King - lead guitar *Tammy Pierce - background vocals *

John Wesley Ryles John Wesley Ryles (born December 2, 1950) is an American country music artist. Ryles recorded a string of hit country songs, beginning in 1968 when he was still a teenager, and continuing through the 1980s. He no longer records as a headline ar ...

- background vocals *Scott Sanders - steel guitar *Milton Sledge - drums *Joe Spivey - fiddle, mandolin *

- producer *Jamie Tate - engineering

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Billy American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Living people Country musicians from Arkansas Deaf musicians People from Poteau, Oklahoma Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma Singer-songwriters from Arkansas American deaf people Country musicians from Oklahoma Year of birth missing (living people) American musicians with disabilities