Donny Kees is an American songwriter and musician. Kees has written songs for numerous artists and charted several singles 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 ...

'' country charts. Since 1984, Kees has continued to write hit songs for other artists, most notably

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Coun ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

Joe Nichols Joseph Edward Nichols (born November 26, 1976) is an American country music artist. Between 1996 and 2001, he held recording contracts with the Intersound and Giant labels. In 2002, he signed with Universal South Records, now known as Show Dog-U ...

Bryan White Bryan Shelton White (born February 17, 1974) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Asylum Records in 1994 at age 20, White released his self-titled debut album that year. Both it and its follow-up, 1996's '' Between Now ...

and

Diamond Rio Diamond Rio is an American country music band. The band was founded in 1982 as an attraction for the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, and was originally known as the Grizzly River Boys, then the Tennessee River Boys. It was foun ...

Early life

Kees was born in Carbondale, West Virginia, to Earnest "Pete" Kees, and Loretta. The family soon moved to

Chesapeake, West Virginia Chesapeake is a town in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,336 at the 2020 census. The town is situated on the Kanawha River. Chesapeake was incorporated on November 1, 1948 as recorded in Book 67 Page 123-124 and ...

, where Kees grew up. His father, an insurance salesman, musician and blues singer, influenced Kees' to pursue a career in music. When Kees was 12 years old, he became the youngest member of the local musicians union. As a young teen, he had his first public performance at a local Chesapeake venue called Ralph's with his band the Don Juans. Continuing to perform with the Don Juans, Kees attended East Bank High School where he met his wife, Diana, and from where he graduated in 1965. After high school, he enlisted in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

while attending

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

in 1967 and 1968. During that time, he also performed for the

United Services Organization The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

(USO).

Career

During the 1970's, Kees continued to perform and write music. He moved to

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 ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, in 1984 after scoring cuts for Conway Twitty and others to pursue a career in songwriting, eventually signing a publishing deal with Acuff/Rose and an artist deal with

16th Avenue Records 16th Avenue Records was an independent record label specializing in country music. The first 16th Avenue label was founded in Toronto in May 1981 by Apple Productions Corporation principals Stan Campbell and Veronica Mataseje. In May 1984, 16th A ...

. Kees quickly became one of Nashville's most sought after songwriters. Kees has had 3 number one singles on Billboard Country Charts and R&R charts along with five Top 10 singles. Kees has won five Broadcast Music (BMI) awards for 1 million plus airplays. In 1993, Kees' song "

When Did You Stop Loving Me "When Did You Stop Loving Me" is a song written by Donny Kees and Monty Holmes and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in April 1993 as the third and final single from his album ''Pure Country''. The song reache ...

" from the

Pure Country ''Pure Country'' is a 1992 American drama musical western film directed by Christopher Cain and starring George Strait in his acting debut, with Lesley Ann Warren, Isabel Glasser and Kyle Chandler. The film, while profitable with box office recei ...

soundtrack by

was nominated by the Music City News Songwriter Awards as a Top Ten Song of the Year. The song was later used in a nationwide ad campaign for

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

. In 1997, he received a

Nashville Songwriters Association International The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is a 501(c) not-for-profit trade organization that works to help songwriters in three ways: through legislative advocacy, through education and advice about the actual craft of songwrit ...

(NSAI) Achievement Award for his work on the number one hit, I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore, along with Skip Ewing and

and again in 2003 for I Believe, another with Skip Ewing, the latter also winning a BMI award in 2004. The 2002 song

Brokenheartsville "Brokenheartsville" is a song written by Donny Kees, Blake Mevis, Randy Boudreaux, and Clint Daniels and recorded by American country music singer Joe Nichols. It was released in November 2002 as the second single from Nichols' 2002 album ''Man wi ...

for singer

was Kees' first number one hit on the Billboard

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. Kees soon followed that up with '' I Believe" by

. The song spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and also charted in the top 40 of

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. The song has also been used in music therapy practices to help people deal with grief and loss.

Awards and nominations

BMI

*1994 -

*1997 - I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore *1999 -

If I Never Stop Loving You (song) "If I Never Stop Loving You" is a song written by Skip Ewing and Donny Kees, and recorded by American country music artist David Kersh. It was released in December 1997 as the lead-off single and title track from the album '' If I Never Stop Lov ...

*2003 -

*2004 -

I Believe (Diamond Rio song) "I Believe" is a song written by Skip Ewing and Donny Kees, and recorded by American country music band Diamond Rio. It was released in November 2002 as the second single from their album '' Completely''. The song became Diamond Rio's fifth and f ...

Nashville Songwriters Achievement Award

*1997 - I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore *2003 - I Believe

Music City News County Songwriters Award

* 1994 -

(nominated)

Selected discography

Kees has worked with country stars including

Aaron Tippin Aaron Dupree Tippin (born July 3, 1958) is an American country music singer, songwriter and record producer. Initially a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, he gained a recording contract with RCA Nashville in 1990. His debut single, "You've Got to ...

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. Active from 1978 until being incapacitated by a stroke in 2013, he has recor ...

Mark Wills Mark Wills (born Daryl Mark Williams; August 8, 1973) is an American country music artist. Signed to Mercury Records between 1996 and 2003, he released five studio albums for the label – ''Mark Wills'', ''Wish You Were Here'', '' Permanently'' ...

, and

Lorrie Morgan Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. Mo ...

. Kees has either written or co-written the following songs for other artists:

Singles

Notes

#"Moody Woman" did not chart on Hot Country Songs, but peaked at No. 9 on Hot Country Radio Breakouts.

References

External links

The Hayes Street Sessions - Donny Kees

Marry Go Round - Donny Kees 1973

Butterfly - Donny Kees 1975

If You Want It You Got It - Donny Kees 1978
American country songwriters People from Chesapeake, West Virginia University System of Maryland alumni American male songwriters Songwriters from West Virginia {{DEFAULTSORT:Kees, Donny Year of birth missing (living people) Living people