John Robert "Bobby" Wright (born March 30, 1942) is an American country music singer. He is the middle child and the only son of country singers

Johnnie Wright Johnnie Robert Wright Jr. (May 13, 1914 – September 27, 2011) was an American country music singer-songwriter, who spent much of his career working with Jack Anglin as the popular duo Johnnie & Jack, and was also the husband of country musi ...

and Kitty Wells.

Biography

He was born in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

, United States. Most of his boyhood years were spent in Louisiana, since his parents were regular performers on the country music television program '' Louisiana Hayride''. At age eight, Wright appeared with his parents on the show, and became part of their recordings three years later. The family went back to Nashville in 1958, because his parents became headliners at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

. Although Wright was an able guitarist and vocalist, he had little interest in a music career. He became interested in acting when he learned that Peter Tewksbury, a television and film director, had a role for a young Southern boy who could play the guitar. Wright made the trip to Hollywood to test for Tewksbury. While he did not get the role he went to California for, his screen test was seen by the producer of '' McHale's Navy'', who cast him in the new television comedy as Willy Moss, the PT-73 radio operator, a role he played through the entire series. While ''McHale's Navy'' was still in production, Wright decided to give music a try, beginning by working with his mother on one of her 1965 albums. Unhappy with the Hollywood scene after ''McHale's Navy'' ended, he moved back to Nashville to start a music career. Bobby Wright recorded for Decca,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and United Artists Records between 1967 and 1979, charting 21 singles on the

Hot Country Songs 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 ...

charts. "Here I Go Again", which reached number 13 in 1971, was his highest-charting release. Wright appeared with his parents and sisters, Ruby and Carol Sue, on the Kitty Wells Family Show a syndicated television show in the early 1960s. He also toured with his parents from the 1960s until Johnnie and Kitty retired from the road in 2007. Bobby performed with his parents at the International Festival of Country Music at Wembley in 1974, and returned to the United Kingdom with them for the Peterborough Country Music Festival in 1988. He was married to the former Brenda Kay Davis; the couple has two daughters, Theresa LeAnn and Kamela Lynn. , Wright is the last surviving cast member from the ''McHale's Navy'' television series.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Bobby 1942 births ABC Records artists American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Decca Records artists Country musicians from West Virginia Musicians from Charleston, West Virginia United Artists Records artists Living people Singer-songwriters from West Virginia