Bob DiPiero

Last updated

Bob DiPiero
Bob DiPiero - CMA Songwriters Series 2014.jpg
DiPiero performing at the CMA Songwriters' Series in September 2014.
Background information
Birth nameRobert John DiPiero
Origin (1951-03-03) March 3, 1951 (age 73)
Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.
Genres Country
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1983–present
Formerly of Billy Hill
Spouse
(m. 1991;div. 1998)
Website bobdipiero.com

Robert John DiPiero (born March 3, 1951) is an American country music songwriter. He has written 15 US number one hits and several Top 20 singles for Tim McGraw, The Oak Ridge Boys, Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Shenandoah, Neal McCoy, Highway 101, Restless Heart, Ricochet, John Anderson, Montgomery Gentry, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Pam Tillis, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Travis Tritt, Bryan White, Billy Currington, Etta James, Delbert McClinton, Van Zant, Tanya Tucker, Patty Loveless, and many others.

Contents

Early years

DiPiero was born in the steel-manufacturing center of Youngstown, Ohio. His family moved to the suburban township of Liberty, Ohio. DiPiero graduated from Liberty High School (Ohio) in 1969. [1] He graduated from Youngstown State University's Dana School of Music. He participated in hard rock bands in northeastern Ohio throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1979, DiPiero moved to Nashville. He worked as a session player and traveling musician, then moved into songwriting. [1]

Songwriting career

DiPiero (left) performing with Kix Brooks for U.S. troops in Afghanistan on behalf of the USO in December 2010 BobDiPieroKixBrooksDec10.jpg
DiPiero (left) performing with Kix Brooks for U.S. troops in Afghanistan on behalf of the USO in December 2010

DiPiero's first number one hit as a songwriter was 1983's "American Made" by The Oak Ridge Boys; it also became a national advertisements jingle for Miller Beer and Baby Ruth candybar. [2] Since then, DiPiero co-wrote countless hit singles for other country music artists, with 15 of his songs reaching No. 1 on the country music charts. [3] In 1995 and 1996, he received the Triple Play award from the Country Music Association for 3 number one singles charted in each of those years. In addition, he has 36 awards from BMI for his contributions as a songwriter. [3] [4] He was also one third of the country music supergroup Billy Hill; members included Dennis Robbins and John Scott Sherrill.

He helped make Nashville a port-of-call for legendary performers from all genres, writing with Neil Diamond, Carole King, Johnny Van Zant, and Delbert McClinton, among many others.

At one point, DiPiero was married to country music artist Pam Tillis, the daughter of singer Mel Tillis. The couple divorced. On June 18, 2006, he married music publisher, Leslie Tomasino. [5]

DiPiero launched a music industry-based reality series called "The Hitmen of Music Row" premiering September 26, 2007, on the Great American Country cable station. [1] Songwriter participants in the series include Tony Mullins, Jeffrey Steele, and Craig Wiseman. [1]

Awards

Singles written or co-written by Bob DiPiero

Related Research Articles

Wayland D. Holyfield was an American songwriter and leader in the songwriting community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pam Tillis</span> American country music singer-songwriter (born 1957)

Pamela Yvonne Tillis is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is the eldest child of country singer Mel Tillis. After recording unsuccessful pop material for Elektra and Warner Records in the early 1980s, Tillis shifted to country music. In 1989, she signed with Arista Nashville, entering top-40 on Hot Country Songs for the first time with "Don't Tell Me What to Do" in 1990. This was the first of five singles from her breakthrough album Put Yourself in My Place.

Gerry House is an American radio personality who was heard on WSIX-FM in Nashville, Tennessee on the morning show Gerry House and the House Foundation from 1983 to 2010. House has won the CMA ACM Billboard and Marconi awards for Personality of the Year numerous times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Steele</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1961)

Jeffrey LeVasseur, known as Jeffrey Steele, is an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than 60 hit songs for such artists as Montgomery Gentry, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, and others.

Jason Dale Sellers is an American country music artist. After several years of touring the United States in his family's band, Sellers joined the road band of Ricky Skaggs. By 1997, he was signed to a recording contract with BNA Records, for whom he recorded two studio albums: 1997's I'm Your Man and 1999's A Matter of Time. These two albums produced five singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts; each album's title track reached Top 40 on that chart. Although he has not recorded any albums since A Matter of Time, Jason has had continued success as a songwriter, with acts such as Lonestar, Kenny Chesney, and Montgomery Gentry having recorded his songs. In addition, he holds several credits as a session background vocalist.

Tommy Lee James is an American country music songwriter and record producer with Still Working Music Group. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, he is originally from Roanoke, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wink (song)</span> 1994 single by Neal McCoy

"Wink" is a song written by Bob DiPiero and Tom Shapiro, and recorded by American country music singer Neal McCoy. It was released in April 1994 as the second single from his album No Doubt About It. Also the second consecutive Number One from that album, "Wink" spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in June and July of that year. In 1996, the song received the Robert J. Burton award from Broadcast Music Incorporated for being the most-performed country song of the year.

Tom Curtis Shapiro is an American songwriter and occasional record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. To date, he holds four Country Songwriter of the Year awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated, as well as the Songwriter of the Decade award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International. He has also written more than fifty Top Ten hits, including twenty-six Number Ones.

James Layng Martine Jr. is an American songwriter whose compositions have appeared on the country and pop music charts over a four-decade span beginning in the late 1960s. His songs, "Way Down" and "Rub it In", have each been recorded by over 20 artists. In 2013, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Some of Martine's writing credits include Elvis Presley's million-selling "Way Down"; The Pointer Sisters' "Should I Do It" and Trisha Yearwood's "I Wanna Go Too Far".

Becky Priest is an American country music singer-songwriter and instrumentalist hailing from Hubbard, Texas and now based in Nashville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark D. Sanders</span> American country music songwriter (born 1950)

Mark Daniel Sanders is an American country music songwriter. He has written 15 No. 1 hits, 50 singles, and over 200 cuts, including the famous Lee Ann Womack single "I Hope You Dance", co-written with Tia Sillers.

Thomas Stevenson Douglas is an American country music songwriter. He has written Top 10 Billboard Country hits for John Michael Montgomery, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Collin Raye, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney and others.

Gary Steven Harrison is an American songwriter.

Edward Monroe Hill is an American country music songwriter. Hill has been active since the early 1970s. Hill plays piano and keyboard and has backed Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson. Hill joined the Palomino Club's house band, the Palomino Riders, in the late 1970s, and backed artists like Marty Robbins and Willie Nelson. In 1980, he joined the Gilley's Urban Cowboy Band and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for "Orange Blossom Special/Hoedown".

Gary Nicholson is an American singer-songwriter and record producer, known mainly for his work in country music and blues. He is a two-time Grammy winning producer and was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriter's Association Hall of Fame. Nicholson has more than 500 recordings and is best known for his work with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Ringo Starr, B. B. King, Fleetwood Mac and Billy Joe Shaver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Dean (songwriter)</span> American songwriter (born 1967)

Barry Dean is an American country and pop music songwriter based out of Nashville, Tennessee. He has written multiple No. 1 singles including “Pontoon”, “Day Drinking”, "Somebody's Daughter", and "Think a Little Less", along with a Top 40 hit with “Girls Chase Boys”. He has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song on Tim McGraw's "Diamond Rings and Old Barstools."

Paul William Leim is an American drummer and recording session musician based in Nashville.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Benson, John (September 23, 2007). "DiPiero, other songwriters on 'Hitmen of Music Row'". The Vindicator. p. D-1. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Bob DiPiero biography". Durango-Songwriters-Expo.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "For Bob DiPiero, All That Counts Is A Great Song". BMI.com. October 31, 2000. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  4. "Bob DiPiero and Jeffrey Steele to Share Songwriting Secrets at Conclave Learning Conference". BMI.com. June 4, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  5. "Second Annual MELE Songwriters Workshop Presenters". www.melesongwriters.org. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010.
  6. "Bob DiPiero". musiccitynetworks.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  7. "Montgomery Gentry's Energy Shines On "Headlights"". Shore Fire Media . July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.