Todd David Cerney (August 8, 1953 – March 14, 2011) was an American songwriter and musician. He composed " Good Morning Beautiful", a 2002 five-week country number one (Billboard) hit for Steve Holy (co-written with Zack Lyle); "The Blues Is My Business" (co-written with

Kevin Bowe Kevin Bowe is a songwriter, record producer and musician from Minneapolis. He is most well known for his work with prominent rock and blues artists including Paul Westerberg and the Replacements, writing songs for hit albums by Jonny Lang and ...

), part of

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

' 2003 Grammy Award-winning album "Let's Roll"; and "

I'll Still Be Loving You "I'll Still Be Loving You" is a song recorded by American country music group Restless Heart. It was released in January 1987 as the second single from the album ''Wheels''. The song was written by Todd Cerney, Pam Rose, Mary Ann Kennedy and Pa ...

", a 1987 country number one (Billboard) hit for Restless Heart (co-written with Pam Rose, Mary Ann Kennedy, and

Pat Bunch Pat Bunch is an American country music songwriter. Much of her earlier chart hits resulted from collaborations with fellow songwriters Mary Ann Kennedy and Pam Rose. Since 1995 Bunch has also had multiple chart successes co-writing with Doug Jo ...

). He and his co-writers were nominated for a Grammy Award for "I'll Still Be Loving You". The song won the 1988 award for "ASCAP Country Song of the Year". Cerney was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, and graduated from

Zanesville High School Zanesville High School is a public high school in Zanesville, Ohio. Zanesville High School is the only public high school in the Zanesville City School District. History The first Zanesville High School was built in downtown North 6th Street 18 ...

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...

in 1971. He began his song-writing career after moving 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 th ...

, where he initially worked a

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. Some of the earliest artists to record his songs include Steve Carlisle ("I'll Fall in Love Again") and

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

("American Son (album), Blue House of Broken Hearts").

Music career

Cerney became known as the "Rock Doctor" after co-writing songs with members of various bands including [

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen a ...

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including "Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Par ...

Loverboy Loverboy is a Canadian rock band formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly " Turn Me Loose" and " Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still heard on many classic rock and classic hits ...

and

Bad English Bad English was an American/British glam metal supergroup formed in 1987. It reunited Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in the Babys, along with Journey guitarist Neal ...

. Popular artists to record his compositions include

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

(with the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...

) "If Ever A Love There Was" (part of the soundtrack for the film " I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" – the song hit the top 40 in both the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts (Billboard)), John Anderson's "Till I Get Used to the Pain" and

Ty Herndon Boyd Tyrone Herndon (born May 2, 1962), known professionally as Ty Herndon, is an American country music singer and songwriter. His music career began in the 1980s as a member of the Tennessee River Boys, a predecessor to the country band Diamo ...

's "No Mercy", which peaked at #26 on the Billboard Country Music charts. In 1988 Cerney traveled to Russia as one of 28 songwriters who participated in the

Music Speaks Louder Than Words ''Music Speaks Louder Than Words'' is an album released by Epic Records in 1990. Overview Artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Atlantic Starr, Roberta Flack, Patti LaBelle, Earth, Wind & Fire, Anne Murray and the Cover Girls featured on the album. Th ...

project – a collaboration between American and Soviet songwriters which included

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

and

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

. During his two weeks in Russia he cowrote the songs "Speak to My Heart" (performed by

Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs " San Francisco Bay Blues", " Poetry Man", "Harpo's Blues", and her credited ...

) and "Don't Stop Now" (performed by

The Cover Girls The Cover Girls are an all-female, New York city-based freestyle group that achieved most of its chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Among the group's best-known songs are " Show Me, " " Because of You," “ Don't Stop Now,” ...

, music by

Viktor Reznikov Viktor Mikhailovich Reznikov (russian: link=no, Ви́ктор Михайлович Ре́зников; 9 May 1952 in Leningrad – 25 February 1992 in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian Soviet composer, lyricist and singer. He was mostly known ...

). In October 2009,

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

and

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

reunited for the first time in 25 years to sing "Tell Me That You Love Me," a duet that Cerney co-wrote. The song was featured in Rogers' three-CD box set "Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years" on Time-Life Records. In 2010, American Idol runner-up Bo Bice included a song he co-wrote with Cerney, "Keep on Rollin'," on his "3" album. Cerney played guitar, mandolin, harmonica, keyboards and sang lead and backing vocals with various artists including backing vocals for

and

, mandolin for the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) an ...

and th
Nashville Mandolin Ensemble
and a full range of instruments for various songwriter groups includin
Thom Shepherd & the Nashville Songwriters Band
He also worked with three former members of the soft-rock band

Bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

– Jimmy Griffin, Robb Royer and

Larry Knechtel Lawrence William Knechtel (August 4, 1940 – August 20, 2009) was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles-based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Simon & ...

– forming "Toast" (later renamed "Radio Dixie") during the mid-1990s, recording a number of songs for an album release that remained unfinished.

Death

Cerney died in

Nashville, Tennessee 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 ...

on March 14, 2011, from

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

, a disease with which he had first been diagnosed with in November 2010, following a brain seizure. He was 57 years old.Obituary & blog-The Nashville Tennessean
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Chart Singles Written by Todd Cerney

The following is a list of Todd Cerney compositions that were chart hits.

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerney, Todd 1953 births 2011 deaths Musicians from Detroit People from Zanesville, Ohio People from Nashville, Tennessee Deaths from melanoma Deaths from cancer in Tennessee Songwriters from Michigan Songwriters from Ohio Songwriters from Tennessee