"I'm Gonna Be Somebody" is a song written by Jill Colucci and

Stewart Harris Stewart Hamill Harris (February 13, 1949 – May 4, 2023) was an American country music songwriter. Active since the late 1970s, he has had four compositions which have reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. Biography a ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In t ...

. It released in May 1990 as the third single from his debut album ''

Country Club A country club is a privately-owned Club (organization), club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Ty ...

''. It reached No. 2 in the United States, behind Shenandoah's " Next to You, Next to Me", while it became his second No. 1 hit in Canada.

Content

The song is a moderate up-tempo describing a young male named Bobby, who lives in a lower-class community with rather difficult economical issues. Bobby is an aspiring young singer and musician whose lifelong dream is to have a successful career in the music business; however, people in his community beg to differ and advise Bobby to instead choose a more realistic source of income, as they believe a career in music is not a good option. Bobby quietly ignores their advice and continues his quest to pursue his dreams and prove all of the nonbelievers wrong. A decade passes before Bobby finally achieves those dreams; he is now one of the most successful recording artists (presumably in country music) with a top

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

and number-one radio singles to his credit. Bobby eventually performs a summer homecoming concert; and during his performance, he happens to hear a singing voice coming from the front row of the audience, which is said to be another young male who has exactly the same dreams and ambitions that Bobby once had long ago.

Personnel

The following musicians play on this track: *Mike Brignardello – bass guitar *

Larry Byrom Larry Clifton Byrom (born December 27, 1948 in Huntsville, Alabama) is an American guitarist. Byrom performed in a band called the Precious Few in the 1960s, then joined T.I.M.E.; in 1970, he joined Steppenwolf. He left Steppenwolf in 1972 and ...

– acoustic guitar *Wendell Cox – electric guitar solo * Paul Franklin –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of pla ...

*Jack Holder – electric guitar * Dana McVicker – background vocals *

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Mu ...

– fiddle *

Bobby Ogdin Robert Ford Ogdin (born September, 1945) is a Nashville-based recording session pianist. He is best known as a member of Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley's TCB Band, TCB band. He performed on 20 of Presley's recordings and accompanied him on 45 live s ...

– piano, keyboards *Jim "Jimmy Joe" Ruggierre – harmonica *Steve Turner – drums, percussion *

Reggie Young Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with ...

– electric guitar

Chart positions

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1990 singles Travis Tritt songs Songs written by Jill Colucci Warner Records Nashville singles Songs written by Stewart Harris 1990 songs