Alfred William "Sonny" LeMaire (born September 16, 1947) 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. LeMaire is best known as being the

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist of the band

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

, a role that he first held in 1977. After lead singer J. P. Pennington quit the band in 1989, LeMaire alternated with Paul Martin on lead vocals, including the singles "

Nobody's Talking "Nobody's Talking" is a song written by Sonny LeMaire and Randy Sharp, and recorded by American country music group Exile. It was released in March 1990 as the second single from their album '' Still Standing''. The song reached number 2 on the '' ...

" and " Yet". Following Exile's initial 1993 disbanding, LeMaire played bass for Burnin' Daylight in the mid-nineties, reuniting permanently with his "

Kiss You All Over "Kiss You All Over" is a 1978 song performed by American group Exile, written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. It was included on the band's third album, ''Mixed Emotions'' (1978), and featured lead vocalist Jimmy Stokley and guitarist J.P. Pe ...

" bandmates in 2008. In addition to co-writing several of Exile's singles with Pennington, LeMaire wrote

Restless Heart Restless Heart is an American country music band established in 1984. The band's members are Larry Stewart (lead vocals), John Dittrich (drums, vocals), Paul Gregg (bass guitar, vocals), Dave Innis (piano, keyboards, guitar, vocals), and Greg J ...

's 1992 hit " When She Cries", along with " What I Did Right" by Sons of the Desert, " Beautiful Mess" by

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 fou ...

, "

She Thinks She Needs Me "She Thinks She Needs Me" is a song written by Julian Williams, Shane Minor, Sonny LeMaire and Clay Mills, and recorded by American country music artist Andy Griggs. It was released in February 2004 as the lead-off single from his album ''This I ...

" by

Andy Griggs Andrew Tyler Griggs (born January 31 1973) 1973) is an American country music artist. He has released three albums for RCA Records Nashville ('' You Won't Ever Be Lonely'', '' Freedom'', and ''This I Gotta See'') and a fourth ('' The Good Life'' ...

, and "

Fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

", recorded first by

Clay Walker Ernest Clayton Walker Jr. (born August 19, 1969) is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single " What's It to You", which reached Number One on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Son ...

and then

Kimberley Locke Kimberley Dawn Locke (born January 3, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She has recorded in the dance and pop genres, and has targeted the adult contemporary radio format. She was the cohost of the daytime talk s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaire, Sonny 1946 births American country bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Country musicians from Virginia Exile (American band) members Living people Guitarists from Virginia 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians