Cidny Bullens (formerly known as Cindy Bullens; born March 21, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter, who is best known for serving as backup vocalist on tours and albums with Elton John and Rod Stewart, providing vocals on the soundtrack of the 1978 feature film Grease, and for nine critically acclaimed solo albums. In 2012, Bullens publicly came out as a transgender man and changed his name to Cidny Bullens.[1][2]
Bullens' 1978 debut album, Desire Wire, is described flatly by William Ruhlmann for AllMusic: "One of the great lost rock albums of the 1970s, Bullens' debut release is full of tough, passionate, incredibly catchy rock & roll played to the hilt and sung with fire".[4]
Bullens provided vocals on three songs ("It's Raining on Prom Night", "Mooning", and "Freddy, My Love") on the soundtrack of the 1978 feature film, Grease. The album release Grease was nominated for the 1979 Grammy Award for "Album of the Year".
In January 1980, Bullens hit the BillboardHot 100 with the song "Trust Me". It peaked at No. 90.[5] He withdrew from the music business in the early 1980s to raise a family, returning in the early and mid-1990s as a songwriter and then later as a touring and recording artist. Since 1999, Bullens has toured extensively all over the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, has appeared on several major TV shows, including Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Today Show, and CBS This Morning and many radio and TV stations around the world. He is featured in two documentaries, On This Island and Space Between Breaths (and scored the music). Bullens wrote the music and lyrics for the musical Islands in 2000, which played on Broadway for a special performance at the New Victory Theater in September 2001, two weeks after 9/11.
In 1999, Bullens' album Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth (Artemis Records) was recorded in the first two years after the death of his daughter Jessie. It features Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Bryan Adams, and top-tier musicians including George Marinelli, Benmont Tench, Kenny Edwards, and Michael Rhodes. Steven Soles co-produced one track, Tony Berg co-produced three tracks, and Rodney Crowell co-produced three tracks. It won the AFIM Best Rock Album in 2000 and was widely acclaimed.[by whom?]
In 2001, Bullens released Neverland; co-produced with Ray Kennedy, the album features Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, and John Hiatt. In 2005, he released dream #2 again co-produced with Ray Kennedy. The title track features Elton John on piano. Delbert McClinton sings a duet with Bullens on "This Ain't Love" and Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield adds his voice to "7 Days".
In 2007, Bullens formed a new group, The Refugees, with music veterans Wendy Waldman and Deborah Holland. Their first CD, Unbound, was released in January 2009. Their second album "Three" was released in February 2012.[6]
In June 2010, Bullens' released Howling Trains and Barking Dogs on MC Records (Koch). The CD is a compilation of songs he co-wrote in Nashville during the early and mid-1990s with Radney Foster, Bill Lloyd, Al Anderson, Matraca Berg, Mary Ann Kennedy Kye Fleming, and Jimmy Tittle. The CD also includes two new songs written by him alone.[citation needed]
In August 2020, Bullens released his first album as Cidny, Walkin' Through This World, co-produced by Bullens and Ray Kennedy (Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell). This new album is loosely themed around Cidny's transition, featuring the provocative first single "The Gender Line".
Bullens is also the subject of the award-winning documentary short The Gender Line (directed by TJ Parsell and produced by Bill Brimm), which played in many film festivals worldwide in 2019–20.
Personal life
Bullens grew up in Massachusetts. In 1979, Bullens married Dan Crewe, brother of songwriter/producer Bob Crewe, and divorced in 2002. Their daughter Reid was born in 1982. In 1996, their younger daughter, Jessie, born in 1985, died at age 11, of complications from Hodgkin lymphoma.
As an artistic outlet for coming out as transgender, in February 2016, Bullens debuted a "one wo/man show" entitled Somewhere Between – Not an Ordinary Life. Nashville Scene voted it to be the "Best One-Person Show of 2016".[7]
Philip Kamm Madeira is an American songwriter, producer, musician and singer. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island, and attended Taylor University, graduating in 1975. His songs have been recorded by The Civil Wars, Buddy Miller, Alison Krauss, Toby Keith, Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, Keb' Mo', Garth Brooks, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Cindy Morgan, Shawn Mullins, The North Mississippi Allstars. His co-writing partners include Will Kimbrough, Matraca Berg, Chuck Cannon, Cindy Morgan, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Gordon Kennedy, Keb' Mo', and Emmylou Harris. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and his first wife Vivian Cash.
Rodney Crowell is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album Diamonds & Dirt. He has also written songs and produced for other artists.
Thirteen is an album by the American musician Emmylou Harris, released in 1986. The title came from its status as her thirteenth studio album.
White Shoes is the tenth studio album by Emmylou Harris, released in 1983. The album includes a rockish version of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", a country remake of the Donna Summer hit "On the Radio", and a version of Sandy Denny's "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz". Both "In My Dreams" and "Pledging My Love" hit the #9 position on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1984.
Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town is the fifth studio album by American country music artist Emmylou Harris, released in 1978. The album reached number 3 on the Billboard charts, with three charting singles: "To Daddy" at #3, "Two More Bottles of Wine" at #1, and "Easy From Now On" at #12. Also featured are "One Paper Kid", a duet with Willie Nelson, "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight", which the Oak Ridge Boys would reach #1 with in 1980 and "I Ain't Living Long Like This", which Waylon Jennings would reach #1 with in 1980 as well. The painting used for the album cover is by Susanna Clark.
Cage the Songbird is the eleventh studio album by American country music singer Crystal Gayle. Released on October 17, 1983, it peaked at #5 on the Billboard Country Album chart. Four of the album's tracks became Top 5 hits on the Country Singles chart, with two of them reaching #1. Chronologically they were "The Sound of Goodbye" (#1), "I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love" (#2), "Turning Away" (#1), and "Me Against the Night" (#4).
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Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture is the original motion picture soundtrack for the 1978 film Grease. It was originally released by RSO Records and subsequently re-issued by Polydor Records between 1984 and 1991. It has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, also ranking amongst the biggest selling soundtrack albums of all time. The song "You're the One That I Want" was a U.S. and UK No. 1 for stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
Patsy Cline is a studio album by American country music singer, Patsy Cline, released on August 5, 1957. This was the debut album by Cline and would be one of three studio albums Cline would record during her lifetime.
Diamonds & Dirt is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, released in 1988. His fifth studio album, it was his second release for Columbia Records. The album was his most successful, achieving RIAA gold certification. All five of its singles reached Number One on the Billboard country charts, setting a record for the most Number One hits from a country album. In order of release, they were "It's Such a Small World", "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried", "She's Crazy for Leavin", "After All This Time", and a cover of Buck Owens' "Above and Beyond ".
J. D. Crowe & The New South is an album by American banjo player J. D. Crowe and The New South, released in 1975. It was reissued on CD in 1992.
Street Language is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Rodney Crowell. It was released in 1986 by Columbia Records, his first release on that label. It peaked at #38 on the Top Country Albums chart. The songs, "Let Freedom Ring", "When I'm Free Again", "She Loves the Jerk" and "Looking for You" were released as singles but they all failed to chart within the top 20. This album was co-produced by R & B artist Booker T. Jones and features a blend of soul and country music.
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