Mary Sharon Vaughn (born May 2, 1947) is an American musician,

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 ...

and producer who was previously based in Sweden. She has written hits for artists such as

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

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George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

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 m ...

Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music singer and songwriter. During his career, Whitley released only two albums but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts, and 7 more after his death. ...

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, Agnes,

Kate Ryan Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck, 22 July 1980) is a Belgian singer and songwriter, and the winner of a World Music Award. She began her singing career in 2001 and later found fame with a string of dance hits. These included covers, mostly of ...

, Claire Richards,

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, and

Dimash Qudaibergen Dinmuhammed Qanatuly Qudaibergen ( kk, Дінмұхаммед Қанатұлы Құдайберген, ''Dınmūhammed Qanatūly Qūdaibergen'', born 24 May 1994) known professionally as Dimash Qudaibergen, is a Kazakh singer, songwriter, and m ...

Career

Vaughn moved to Nashville in her early 20s. In 1974, she charted two singles as a performer for Cinnamon Records: a duet with Narvel Felts titled "Until the End of Time", and "Never a Night Goes By". A year later, she signed with

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

and released a third single, "You and Me, Me and You". She was also the lead singer in the Lea Jane Singers, and worked with the

Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Voca ...

, the Nashville Edition and The Holladay Sisters. Vaughn’s first big songwriting success was " My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys", which was first recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1976 and further popularized in 1980 by Willie Nelson for the soundtrack of the movie The Electric Horseman. Her next songwriting hit was "

Y'all Come Back Saloon ''Y'all Come Back Saloon'' is a 1977 album by American vocal quartet the Oak Ridge Boys. It was their first album of country music. Four singles were released from the album: the title song, " You're the One", " I'll Be True to You" and "Easy". ...

" by

in 1977. Since then she has worked with country artists such as

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 d ...

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and

. Vaughn has been nominated for the

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1970 by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. A non-profit organization, its objective is to honor and preserve the songwriting legacy that is u ...

three times, and was inducted in 2019. Vaughn has during the last couple of years had over 100 cuts with European artists and four number ones in Japan. She has worked with several Swedish Idol artists, including the winner Jay Smith (2010) and a number one hit for

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. She has also worked with many Scandinavian songwriters and artists including Agnes, Mutt Lange, Tony Nilsson, Vendela,

Anders Hanson Anders Rosenberg Hansen (born 16 September 1970) is a semi-retired Danish professional golfer. Career Hansen was born in Sønderborg, Denmark. He turned professional in 1995. It took him a few years to establish himself on the European Tour, ...

and Emilia. In 2009, her co-written song Release Me by Swedish pop artist Agnes reached #1 on the U.S Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart. In 2013, Vaughn received a JASRAC Award as #1 of the Top 10 Foreign Works for her 2011 co-written song " Rising Sun" by the Japanese pop band EXILE. During 2014, Vaughn competed as the songwriter of three songs in

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Son ...

. Vaughn has also co-written songs with Ian Dench and Carl Falk. Vaughn moved to Sweden in 2008. In 2018, she was registered as having emigrated from Sweden. She returned to Orlando and then moved to Nashville in 2020 where she currently works.

Charted singles

Songs written

The following table lists a selection of songs from Vaughn's career as a songwriter:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Sharon American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Dot Records artists Living people Musicians from Stockholm American expatriates in Sweden People from Orlando, Florida Singer-songwriters from Florida Country musicians from Florida 1947 births 21st-century American women