Lee Merton "Dewey" Bunnell (born 19 January 1952) is a British-American musician, singer, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a member of the

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Biography

Bunnell was born in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England, to an American serviceman father, stationed at 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 ...

base at

RAF South Ruislip RAF South Ruislip, also known as South Ruislip Air Station, was a non-flying Air Force station located in South Ruislip near London, England. Located close to RAF Northolt, the station was used by the United States Air Force's Third Air Force f ...

, and his English wife. As a young musician, Bunnell was inspired by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

. While attending

London Central High School London Central Elementary High School (LCEHS), formerly London Central High School, was a United States Department of Defense Dependents School (DoDDS) in the Isles District of DoDDS Europe for pupils in kindergarten through grade 12. It operated ...

in England, he met

Gerry Beckley Gerald Linford Beckley (born September 12, 1952), better known as Gerry Beckley, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician, and a founding member of the band America. Early life Beckley was born to an American father and an English moth ...

and

Dan Peek Daniel Milton Peek () was an American musician best known as a member of the folk rock band America from 1970 to 1977, together with Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell. He has been called a "pioneer in contemporary Christian music". Early life ...

. After an initial attempt at forming a band in the late 1960s, the trio formed America in 1969 and released their first album in 1971. As with the other members, Bunnell wrote, sang and played guitar. His best-known compositions include "

A Horse with No Name "A Horse with No Name" is a song by the folk rock band America, written by Dewey Bunnell. It was the band's first and most successful single, released in late 1971 in Europe and early 1972 in the United States, that topped the charts in Canada, ...

", "

Ventura Highway "Ventura Highway" is a 1972 song by the band America from their album ''Homecoming'', written by Dewey Bunnell. Background Dewey Bunnell, the song's vocalist and writer, has said that the lyric "alligator lizards in the air" in the song is a r ...

", and " Tin Man". Bunnell has explained that "A Horse with No Name" was "a metaphor for a vehicle to get away from life's confusion into a quiet, peaceful place", while "Sandman" was inspired by his casual talks with returning

Vietnam veteran A Vietnam veteran is a person who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and oth ...

s. Afraid that they might be attacked and killed in their sleep, many of them chose to stay awake as long as possible, either naturally or with pharmaceuticals. Thus, they were "running from the Sandman." In 1973, he moved to

Marin County, California Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...

with his then-wife, Vivien. They had two children, Dylan and Lauren. The two divorced in 1999 and he married Penny in 2002. He then legally adopted Penny's daughter, Destry. Bunnell is still a member of America, along with the remaining founding member, Gerry Beckley. America has made more than 20 albums of original material, along with a number of hits compilations, between the 1960s and the present. In 2002, the band released a holiday album entitled ''Holiday Harmony''. America's album ''Back Pages'' was released on 26 July 2011. The group was given a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

in February 2012. America's most recent album, ''Lost & Found'', was officially released 5 May 2015, containing unreleased tracks recorded between 2002 and 2010.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunnell, Dewey 1952 births Living people British soft rock musicians Musicians from Harrogate English male singer-songwriters English people of American descent American rock guitarists America (band) members American folk guitarists American male guitarists American folk singers American pop guitarists People from Palos Verdes, California 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from California