Baylen Leonard (born 12 June 1973) is an American British radio and TV broadcaster specialising in country music. [1] [2] [3] [4]
In 2019, he described why he loved Country Music to the Children's Charity for the Blind Victa: [5]
My love of country music began in my teenage years when I picked up a copy of a LeAnn Rimes CD and couldn’t stop playing it. Of course back then many people here in the UK thought country music was all about rhinestones, Stetsons and cowboy boots. And it wasn’t really considered ‘cool’ to admit to liking that kind of music. I never let that bother me though. As a writer I was drawn to the storytelling themes and the musician in me loved the instrumentation. [6]
He started his radio career at BBC London in 2001 after moving in 2000 from New York City. While working at the BBC, Leonard recalls he always wanted to broadcast country music. “If it was a bank holiday and everybody else was away, they’d let me do a country show, which helped them cotton on to the fact that country music was a thing, so I started doing that more on Radio 2 with Bob Harris and then moved into commercial radio when Absolute and Bauer launched their commercial radio country station.” [7]
Leonard has since worked for BBC Radio 2, [8] [9] BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, Amazing Radio, Monocle 24, [10] Country Hits Radio, and others. He cites Bob Harris as a particular support in the establishment of his career in the UK. [11] He also worked with Danny Baker, which even The Lady, a very traditional British magazine approved of. [12] He is often quoted in the press regarding Country music. [13] [14] [15]
In 2024, he presents six days a week on Absolute Radio Country [16] [17] and hosts The Country Music Talk podcast. [18]
Leonard is the creative director and booker of the country music festival The Long Road, which takes place every August in Leicestershire UK. [19]
He co-founded and serves as Head of Music for the digital magazine Holler. [20] He is also host of UK Country Radio Airplay Chart show whcih claims to be the first genre specific radio chart launched in the UK. [21]
Leonard has been recognised twice as International Broadcaster Of The Year by The Country Music Association (CMA) in 2019 and 2021. [22] [23] [24]
Leonard has won two British Country Music Association awards:
Leonard is the annual mainstage host of The UK Americana Music Awards in Hackney London every January [34] and Highways Festival every May at The Royal Albert Hall. [35]
Leonard also does Voiceover and podcast work. [36]
Leonard was born in Bristol Tennessee. Moved to New York City to study Musical Theatre at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Moved in 2000 to London where he currently lives.[ citation needed ]
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English actress who has worked in film, television and theatre.
Absolute Radio is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via digital audio broadcasting.
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Robert Brinley Joseph Harris, popularly known as "Whispering Bob" Harris, is an English music presenter. He was a host of the BBC2 music programme The Old Grey Whistle Test and was a co-founder of the listings magazine Time Out. He presents Bob Harris Country on Thursdays on BBC Radio 2 at 9 pm.
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony features performances and award presentations by popular country music artists, with occasional appearances from pop and rock artists. The CMA Awards were first presented in 1967, and televised for the first time the following year.
"Achy Breaky Heart" is a song written in 1990 by Don Von Tress. First released in 1991 by the Marcy Brothers with the title "Don't Tell My Heart", it was later recorded by American singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus and released on his debut album, Some Gave All (1992). The song is Cyrus's debut single and signature song. It became the first single ever to achieve triple platinum status in Australia and also 1992's best-selling single in the same country. In the United States, it became a crossover hit on pop and country radio, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Hot Country Songs chart, becoming the first country single to be certified platinum since "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton in 1983. The single topped in several countries, and after being featured on Top of the Pops in the United Kingdom, peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. It was Cyrus's biggest hit single in the U.S. until he was featured on "Old Town Road" by rapper Lil Nas X, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 27 years later.
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The Americana Music Honors & Awards is the marquee event for the Americana Music Association. Beginning in 2002, the Americana Music Association honors distinguished members of the music community. Six member-voted awards and several Lifetime Achievement Awards are handed out while over 2000 artists, music-loving fans and entertainment industry executives look on.
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The Shires are a British country music duo composed of singer-songwriters Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes. Earle sings harmony vocals, plays piano and guitar, and Rhodes is lead singer. The duo formed in 2013 and released their debut album Brave in 2015, becoming the first UK country act to chart in the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. The group's second album, My Universe, became the fastest-selling UK country album in history when it was released in October 2016.
Country radio refers to radio stations that play country music. Most country radio stations are commercial radio stations. Most country radio stations usually play only music which has been officially released to country radio by record labels. The largest owners of country music stations in the United States include iHeartMedia, Cumulus Media, Audacy, and Townsquare Media. There are more radio stations in the United States specializing in country music than any other format, out of a total of about 15,000 radio stations in the US. Country radio stations are very influential in the country music industry, compared to other genres of music. Until 2012, only country radio stations were counted in the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart's airplay component, and from 1990 to 2012, country radio was the sole arbiter of a song's position on that chart; the same magazine's Country Airplay chart remains limited solely to country radio stations.
Timothy Tyler Childers is an American country singer and songwriter. His music has been described as a mix of neotraditional country, bluegrass, and folk. His breakthrough studio album, Purgatory (2017), was considered one of the best albums of the year by several publications, and earned Childers an Americana Music Award. He subsequently received Grammy Award nominations for his albums Long Violent History (2020) and Rustin' in the Rain (2023) and the singles "All Your'n" (2019) and "In Your Love" (2023), the latter of which was his first top 10 hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
A timeline of notable events relating to Absolute Radio and its spin-off stations, and its predecessor Virgin 1215/Virgin Radio.
This is a list of notable events in the timeline of digital audio broadcasting in the UK.
Absolute Radio Country is a British digital radio station, and is owned and operated by Bauer Radio. It is available via DAB across the UK, online, on Smart Speaker and via the Rayo as part of the Absolute Radio Network.
The UK Country Airplay chart is a weekly music chart based on the radio airplay of country music singles on radio stations in the United Kingdom. It serves as the UK equivalent to the American Billboard Country Airplay chart.
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