Christopher Norris Cagle (born November 10, 1968) 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, ...
artist. He was first known for writing songs for
David Kersh
Charles David Kersh (born December 9, 1970 in Humble, Texas) is an American former country music singer who made his debut in 1996. His first album, ''Goodnight Sweetheart'', was released that year, producing four singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...
before signing to
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
Nashville in 2000. Cagle made his debut on ''
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 ...
'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now
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 with "
My Love Goes On and On", the first single from his debut album ''
Play It Loud
''Play It Loud'' is the second studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released by Polydor on 28 November 1970 but did not enter the charts. The album, produced by Chas Chandler, was the first to be released under the Slade name, ...
''. The album, which was certified gold in the US, also produced the Top 10 "
Laredo" and "
I Breathe In, I Breathe Out
"I Breathe In, I Breathe Out" is a song recorded and co-written by American country music artist Chris Cagle. It was first recorded by David Kersh on his 1998 album ''If I Never Stop Loving You''; Kersh's version was not released as a single.
Cagl ...
", his only No. 1 hit.
''Play It Loud'' was followed in 2002 by ''
Chris Cagle
Christopher Norris Cagle (born November 10, 1968) is an American country music artist. He was first known for writing songs for David Kersh before signing to Virgin Records Nashville in 2000. Cagle made his debut on ''Billboard (magazine), Bill ...
'', released on
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
Nashville. Also a gold album in the United States, it produced the Top 5 hits "
What a Beautiful Day What a Beautiful Day may refer to:
* What a Beautiful Day (song), a 2002 song by Chris Cagle
* What a Beautiful Day (film)
''What a Beautiful Day'' ( it, Che bella giornata) is a 2011 Italian film directed by Gennaro Nunziante starring Checco Zal ...
" and "
Chicks Dig It
"Chicks Dig It" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Chris Cagle. It was released in June 2003 as the second single from his self-titled album. It peaked at #5 on the U.S. country charts and at #53 on the Billboard H ...
". ''
Anywhere but Here'', his third album, followed in 2005 and produced the No. 12 hit "
Miss Me Baby". A fourth studio album, titled ''
My Life's Been a Country Song
''My Life's Been a Country Song'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Chris Cagle. It was released on February 19, 2008, through Capitol Records Nashville. The album's lead-off single was "What Kinda Gone", which peaked at ...
'', was released in 2008, and its lead-off single, "
What Kinda Gone
"What Kinda Gone" is a song recorded by American country music singer Chris Cagle. It was released in July 2007 as the first single from his album '' My Life's Been a Country Song'', which was released in early 2008. Having reached a peak position ...
", peaked at No. 3 on the country music chart in early 2008. After exiting Capitol in 2008, he signed with
Bigger Picture Music Group
Bigger Picture Music Group, formerly Big Picture Music Group, was an independent record label based in Nashville, Tennessee founded in 2008. It is distributed by Atlantic Records in the US. Their main focus is in country music. Their artist rost ...
in 2011, before retiring from music in 2015.
Biography
Chistopher Norris Cagle was born in
DeRidder, Louisiana
DeRidder is a city in, and the parish seat of, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States. A small portion of the city extends into Vernon Parish, Louisiana, Vernon Parish. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ce ...
, on November 10, 1968;
by the time he was 4, his family had moved to
Sugar Land, Texas
Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around th ...
, just outside
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. He stayed there until moving to
Baytown, Texas
Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris and Chambers counties. Located in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the northern side of the Galveston Bay complex near the outlets of t ...
, in high school.
During his high school years, he took piano lessons before switching to guitar. His senior year he moved to White Settlement, Texas, where he attended Brewer High School before moving back to Baytown and graduating from Ross S. Sterling High School in 1987. He attended the
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...
for one year. He skipped his finance courses to audit music classes, and performed at night in nearby clubs. He also spent a brief period attending classes at Lee College in Baytown.
Cagle later dropped out of college and moved to Nashville in 1994 at the behest of entertainment attorney Rod Phelps. Chris told Phelps that he "...had no place to live, no job, and no money." Phelps hired Cagle as a nanny for his and wife Sheila Wagnon's three daughters, Shayna, Ashley, and Tiffany. Chris remained for several months. While in Nashville, Cagle was waiting tables and tending bar while working to improve himself as a songwriter. One big break came when he met the legendary Harlan Howard, who was so impressed with Chris's songwriting progress that he was the first to publish one of his songs.
Chris then landed a publishing deal and had songs recorded by
David Kersh
Charles David Kersh (born December 9, 1970 in Humble, Texas) is an American former country music singer who made his debut in 1996. His first album, ''Goodnight Sweetheart'', was released that year, producing four singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...
. A woman he met while waiting tables led him to
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
head
Scott Hendricks
Scott Hendricks (born July 26, 1956) is an American record producer who has produced over 30 country music artists. His productions have garnered 121 Top 10s, and 78 Number One hits. Between 1995 and 1997, he was President and Chief Executive Off ...
, who signed him to a record deal.
Musical career
For the next five years he worked odd jobs throughout Nashville, eventually landing a songwriting deal and co-writing album tracks for
David Kersh
Charles David Kersh (born December 9, 1970 in Humble, Texas) is an American former country music singer who made his debut in 1996. His first album, ''Goodnight Sweetheart'', was released that year, producing four singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...
.
While working at a restaurant, he was discovered by an agent of the newly formed Nashville division of
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
, and was signed to a recording deal with the label in 2000.
2000–2002: ''Play It Loud''
Cagle's first album, ''
Play It Loud
''Play It Loud'' is the second studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released by Polydor on 28 November 1970 but did not enter the charts. The album, produced by Chas Chandler, was the first to be released under the Slade name, ...
'', was issued in mid-2000. Serving as its lead-off single was "
My Love Goes On and On", which reached No. 15 on ''
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 ...
'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now
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 ...
), while "
Laredo", its follow-up, became his first Top Ten hit in mid-2001.
After Virgin closed in 2001, the album was re-issued on
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
with "
I Breathe In, I Breathe Out
"I Breathe In, I Breathe Out" is a song recorded and co-written by American country music artist Chris Cagle. It was first recorded by David Kersh on his 1998 album ''If I Never Stop Loving You''; Kersh's version was not released as a single.
Cagl ...
" (which was also one of the songs that he had written for David Kersh in the late 1990s) added as a bonus track. Its
b-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
, "Country by the Grace of God", was the fourth and final single from the album. "I Breathe In, I Breathe Out" became his only No. 1 hit in early 2002. By the end of the year, ''Play It Loud'' had been certified gold in the United States.
2003–2004: ''Chris Cagle''
Capitol released Cagle's second album, ''
Chris Cagle
Christopher Norris Cagle (born November 10, 1968) is an American country music artist. He was first known for writing songs for David Kersh before signing to Virgin Records Nashville in 2000. Cagle made his debut on ''Billboard (magazine), Bill ...
'', in the middle of 2003. His second consecutive gold album, it produced the Top 5 singles "What a Beautiful Day" and "Chicks Dig It", as well as the No. 39 "I'd Be Lying".
In 2003, Cagle also performed "Don't Ask Me No Questions" for the ''
Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie'' soundtrack; it plays during the end credits of the film.
In early 2004, Cagle was diagnosed with multiple anomalies on his
vocal cords
In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speech ...
, including a
polyp, a
lesion
A lesion is any damage or abnormal change in the tissue of an organism, usually caused by disease or trauma. ''Lesion'' is derived from the Latin "injury". Lesions may occur in plants as well as animals.
Types
There is no designated classifi ...
, a
vocal fold cyst
Vocal fold cysts (also known as ''vocal cord cysts'') are benign masses of the membranous vocal folds. These cysts are enclosed, sac-like structures that are typically of a yellow or white colour. They occur unilaterally on the midpoint of the med ...
, and a
granuloma
A granuloma is an aggregation of macrophages that forms in response to chronic inflammation. This occurs when the immune system attempts to isolate foreign substances that it is otherwise unable to eliminate. Such substances include infectious ...
. The diagnosis forced him to cancel nearly twenty appearances that year, including opening dates for
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...
. He was ordered sixty days of
vocal rest
Vocal rest or voice rest is the process of resting the vocal folds by not speaking and singing typically following viral infections that cause hoarseness in the voice, such as the common cold or influenza or more serious vocal disorders such as c ...
and did not sing for nearly three months after the diagnosis.
2005–2006: ''Anywhere but Here''
After his vocal recovery, Cagle began work on his third studio album, ''
Anywhere but Here'', which was released in 2005. "Miss Me Baby" served as the album's first single, reaching No. 12 on the country chart. The other two singles — "Wal-Mart Parking Lot" and the title track, which had also been a single for
Brice Long
William Brice Long (born August 25, 1971) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Signed to Columbia Records in 2005, Long charted one single on the ''Billboard'' country chart that year: "Anywhere but Here", which was also released by Ch ...
in 2005 – both failed to enter the Top 40.
In August 2006, a
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
judge ordered Cagle to pay approximately $737,000 to former manager Mark Hybner, whom Chris had sued in 2004 in an effort to void management and publishing deals he had signed in 1999.
2007–2010: ''My Life's Been a Country Song'' and ''The Best of Chris Cagle''
His eleventh single, "
What Kinda Gone
"What Kinda Gone" is a song recorded by American country music singer Chris Cagle. It was released in July 2007 as the first single from his album '' My Life's Been a Country Song'', which was released in early 2008. Having reached a peak position ...
", was released to country radio in late 2007. Peaking at No. 3, it was the lead-off single to his fourth studio album ''
My Life's Been a Country Song
''My Life's Been a Country Song'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Chris Cagle. It was released on February 19, 2008, through Capitol Records Nashville. The album's lead-off single was "What Kinda Gone", which peaked at ...
'', which was released on February 19, 2008. The second single from the album, "No Love Songs", was released in May; it debuted and peaked at No. 53 on the ''
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 ...
''
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 ...
chart for the week of May 24, 2008. "Never Ever Gone" did not chart, and Cagle parted ways with Capitol Nashville by year's end. The label released a greatest hits album in 2010 titled ''
The Best of Chris Cagle''.
2010–2013: ''Back in the Saddle''
In 2010, Cagle signed with the
Bigger Picture Music Group
Bigger Picture Music Group, formerly Big Picture Music Group, was an independent record label based in Nashville, Tennessee founded in 2008. It is distributed by Atlantic Records in the US. Their main focus is in country music. Their artist rost ...
. He released a new single, "
Got My Country On", on June 28, 2011. The song became Cagle's first top 20 country hit since "What Kinda Gone". His first album for the label, ''
Back in the Saddle
"Back in the Saddle" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. It is the first track on Aerosmith's hard rock album '' Rocks'' released in 1976. The song was also released as the thir ...
'', was released on June 26, 2012. The album produced two more singles, "
Let There Be Cowgirls" and "Dance Baby Dance", before Bigger Picture Music Group folded in 2013. In October 2015, Cagle announced his retirement from the music industry. He currently lives in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, as of 2020.
Personal life
Cagle graduated from Ross S. Sterling High School in
Baytown, Texas
Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris and Chambers counties. Located in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the northern side of the Galveston Bay complex near the outlets of t ...
, in 1987.
He married school teacher Elizabeth Filer on September 10, 2001, in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, Texas, but the marriage ended in divorce in 2003. On October 3, 2005, he announced on his website that he was not the biological father of his then-girlfriend's baby. Cagle is a brother of the Texas Kappa Chapter of
Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...
.
In 2008, Cagle and his girlfriend, Jennifer Tant, were jailed following a domestic assault issue for which Cagle was arrested in November 2007.
In December 2010, Cagle married his second wife, Kay, and became a stepfather to her daughter from a previous marriage Khloe. Cagle has two biological daughters with Kay; Stella (born in April 2010) and Piper (born in 2011).
On December 15, 2013, he was arrested in
Greenville, Texas
Greenville is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, about northeast of Dallas. It is the county seat and largest city of Hunt County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,557, and in 2019, its estimated population was 28,827. ...
, on "suspicion of driving while intoxicated."
Discography
;Studio albums
* ''
Play It Loud
''Play It Loud'' is the second studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released by Polydor on 28 November 1970 but did not enter the charts. The album, produced by Chas Chandler, was the first to be released under the Slade name, ...
'' (2000)
* ''
Chris Cagle
Christopher Norris Cagle (born November 10, 1968) is an American country music artist. He was first known for writing songs for David Kersh before signing to Virgin Records Nashville in 2000. Cagle made his debut on ''Billboard (magazine), Bill ...
'' (2003)
* ''
Anywhere but Here'' (2005)
* ''
My Life's Been a Country Song
''My Life's Been a Country Song'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Chris Cagle. It was released on February 19, 2008, through Capitol Records Nashville. The album's lead-off single was "What Kinda Gone", which peaked at ...
'' (2008)
* ''
Back in the Saddle
"Back in the Saddle" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. It is the first track on Aerosmith's hard rock album '' Rocks'' released in 1976. The song was also released as the thir ...
'' (2012)
References
External links
Chris Cagle official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cagle, Chris
1968 births
Living people
American country singer-songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
Capitol Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Louisiana
University of Texas at Arlington alumni
Virgin Records artists
Bigger Picture Music Group artists
People from Baytown, Texas
Singer-songwriters from Texas
People from DeRidder, Louisiana
Country musicians from Texas
Country musicians from Louisiana