Ronald Dean McDowell Sr. (born March 25, 1950) 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, songwriter, and actor. He is best known for his 1977 song "The King Is Gone", a tribute to

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, who had recently died. From that single onward, McDowell charted more than thirty Top 40 hits on the ''Billboard'' country music charts, though he never experienced further pop success after " The King is Gone." Two of his singles – " Older Women" and "

You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation "You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation" is a song written by Jeff Crossan, and recorded by American country music artist Ronnie McDowell Ronald Dean McDowell Sr. (born March 25, 1950) is an American country music artist, songwriter, and actor. He ...

" — reached Number One on the country charts, while eleven more reached Top Ten. He has also released more than twenty studio albums, and has been signed to

Curb Records Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of MG ...

since 1986.

U.S. Navy

McDowell served in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1968-72. He served on board the

USS Hancock Several ships of the United States Navy have been named USS ''Hancock'' or USS ''John Hancock'', in honor of patriot, Founding Father, and statesman John Hancock. * was the former schooner ''Speedwell'', one of a small flotilla hired in October 17 ...

and USS Kitty Hawk.

Career

Following the death of

in 1977, McDowell, a devoted fan of Presley’s, recorded a song that became his first country and only pop hit with his self-penned tribute song "The King Is Gone," which he recorded on the independent Scorpion

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

. The record took off immediately, gaining

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

s across the

United States 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and around the world. It peaked at number thirteen on Billboard's Hot 100 singles, and became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. In January 1978, McDowell performed the song on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

special, ''Nashville Remembers Elvis on His Birthday'', in which he appeared alongside a number of Presley's contemporaries. To date, "The King Is Gone" has sold more than five million copies. McDowell was commissioned to cover a number of Presley's songs for the soundtrack to 1979 made-for-TV Presley biography film '' Elvis'', during which

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (1963–1964). In the late 1960s, he signed a ten-year contract with The ...

, portraying Presley, lip-synched to McDowell's vocals. He actually recorded 36 songs, but not all of them were used in the film. McDowell also sang the Presley vocals for the 1981 TV movie ''

Elvis and the Beauty Queen ''Elvis and the Beauty Queen'' is a 1981 American made-for-television drama musical film starring Don Johnson and Stephanie Zimbalist. It aired on NBC on March 1, 1981 at 9pm. Plot Don Johnson stars as Elvis Presley in this made-for-TV tru ...

'' and for the 1988 TV miniseries ''

Elvis and Me ''Elvis and Me'' is a 1985 biography written by Priscilla Presley with Sandra Harmon. In the book, Priscilla talks about meeting Elvis Presley, their marriage, and the factors and issues that led to the couple's divorce. The book rights were p ...

''. All of the Presley's vocals for the 1990 TV series, '' Elvis'', were performed by McDowell. McDowell also contributed to the 1997 Showtime special, '' Elvis Meets Nixon''. He scored a second hit for the Scorpion label entitled "I Love You, I Love You, I Love You" before being signed by CBS Records Epic in 1979. McDowell charted a string of hit singles and albums for Epic between 1979 and 1986. Every single release, except one, became a Top 10 hit, including "Older Women" and "You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation". Other hits during his Epic years included "Watching Girls Go By", "Personally", "You Made A Wanted Man Of Me", "Wandering Eyes", " All Tied Up", and " In a New York Minute". Moving to

in 1986, McDowell scored a Top 10 hit with "

It's Only Make Believe "It's Only Make Believe" is a song written by drummer Jack Nance and Mississippi-born singer Conway Twitty, while both were touring across Ontario, Canada in 1958. The song was recorded on May 7 for MGM Records; produced by Jim Vienneau, it feat ...

", a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a sol ...

with

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. ...

on what had been Twitty's breakthrough

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

hit in 1958. Initially a member of McDowell's back-up band would substitute for Twitty during live performances. Recently, however, McDowell has performed the song live with Twitty's pre-recorded voice, followed by a solo from a member of the back-up band. Ronnie_McDowell_MMP_Music_Award_and_Hall_of_Fame_Ceremony

Ronnie_McDowell_MMP_Music_Award_and_Hall_of_Fame_Ceremony

In 1988, he teamed with

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis mad ...

for a duet that McDowell wrote, entitled "You're Never Too Old To Rock N' Roll". He recorded yet another Top 10 hit with his

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

of the pop standard "

Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert Rodr ...

," which also became a No. 1 country

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

. He started appearing in larger venues and touring before headlining his own shows. In 2002, McDowell recorded two albums for

, one consisting of beach music with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters, ''Ronnie McDowell with Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters''. The second project, a country album, entitled ''Ronnie McDowell Country'', a collection of six new McDowell penned songs and a few country standards. In January 2017, McDowell collaborated with

Richard Lynch Richard Lynch (February 12, 1940 – June 19, 2012) was an American actor best known for portraying villains in films and television. His film credits included ''The Sword and the Sorcerer'', '' Invasion USA'', ''The Seven-Ups'', ''Scarecr ...

on a military tribute duet "Love Tattoo". On January 17, 2018, he unveiled "The Magic Moment", his original painting of Presley getting his first guitar at the Tupelo Hardware Store in Tupelo, thus kicking off the pilot for his forthcoming TV show, entitled ''Ronnie McDowell Painting America''. On January 22, 2019, McDowell was inducted into the Mississippi Music Project Hall of Fame in Biloxi, Mississippi and was awarded the MMP Music Award for his lifelong commitment to the music industry.

Personal life

Ronnie McDowell resides in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He has five children. His son, Tyler Dean McDowell, was also signed to

. Another son, Ronnie Jr. and a nephew, Chris, recorded in a band called Six Shooter on Curb in 1991.

Discography

References

External links

Ronnie McDowell official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Ronnie 1950 births American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Curb Records artists Living people Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Epic Records artists MCA Records artists People from Portland, Tennessee Country musicians from Tennessee