Robert Byrne (July 10, 1954 – June 27, 2005) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

known primarily for his work in

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, ...

. He did most of his work at

FAME Studios FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) Studios is a recording studio located at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, an area of northern Alabama known as the Shoals. Though small and distant from the main recording locations of the ...

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...

. Between the 1980s and 2000s, Byrne co-wrote singles for several artists, including the number one singles " How Do I Turn You On" by

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, ...

; "

I Can't Win for Losin' You "I Can't Win for Losin' You' is a song written by Robert Byrne and Rick Bowles and recorded by American country music artist Earl Thomas Conley Earl Thomas Conley (October 17, 1941 – April 10, 2019)Wood, Gerry. (1998). "Earl Thomas Conley". I ...

", " Once in a Blue Moon", " That Was a Close One" and " What I'd Say" for

Earl Thomas Conley Earl Thomas Conley (October 17, 1941 – April 10, 2019)Wood, Gerry. (1998). "Earl Thomas Conley". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 108. was an American country music singer-songwriter. Between ...

; " I Didn't Know My Own Strength" by

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 ...

; and "

Two Dozen Roses "Two Dozen Roses" is a song written by Mac McAnally and Robert Byrne, and recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in August 1989 as the fourth single from their album ''The Road Not Taken "The Road Not Taken" ...

" by Shenandoah. He and

Rick Hall Roe Erister "Rick" Hall (January 31, 1932 – January 2, 2018) was an American record producer, songwriter, and musician who became known as the owner of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As the "Father of Muscle Shoals Music", he was i ...

also produced for Shenandoah. Other artists who recorded his songs include

Mindy McCready Malinda Gayle McCready (November 30, 1975 – February 17, 2013) was an American country music singer. Active from 1995 until her death in 2013, she recorded a total of five studio albums. Her debut album, 1996's '' Ten Thousand Angels'', w ...

The Forester Sisters The Forester Sisters were an American country music vocal group consisting of sisters Kathy, June, Kim, and Christy Forester. Having performed together locally in their native Lookout Mountain, Georgia, since the 1970s, the four sisters began si ...

Phil Vassar Phillip George Vassar Jr. (born May 28, 1962) is an American country music artist. Vassar made his debut on the country music scene in the late 1990s, co-writing singles for several country artists, including Tim McGraw ("For a Little While", ...

, Johnny Lee, Randy Parton and Mike Reid. Byrne was found dead at his

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

house on June 27, 2005, having died of unknown causes.

Albums

* ''Blame It on the Night'' (

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, 1979) * ''An Eye For An Eye'' (with Brandon Barnes as Byrne & Barnes) (Climax, 1981)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Robert 1954 births 2005 deaths American country songwriters American male songwriters American country record producers Musicians from Detroit Songwriters from Michigan People from Muscle Shoals, Alabama 20th-century American musicians Songwriters from Alabama 20th-century American male musicians