Lyle Lovett

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Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett during the 2005 Austin City Limits Music Festival
Lyle Lovett during the 2005 Austin City Limits Music Festival
Background information
Birth nameLyle Pearce Lovett
Born (1957-11-01) November 1, 1957 (age 63)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
OriginKlein, Texas, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • actor
  • record producer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
Years active1980–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitelylelovett.com

Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957)[1] is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and released 25 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man". Lovett has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album.[2] It's Not Big It's Large was released in 2007, where it debuted and peaked at number 2 on the Top Country Albums chart. A new studio album, Natural Forces, was released on October 20, 2009, by Lost Highway Records. The last studio album on his Curb Records contract, Release Me, was released in February 2012.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Lovett was born in Houston, Texas,[3][4][5] when his family lived in the nearby community of Klein. He is the son of William Pearce and Bernell Louise (née Klein) Lovett, a marketing executive and training specialist, respectively. He was raised in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.[6] Lovett attended Texas A&M University, where he received Bachelor of Arts degrees in both German and Journalism in 1980. In the early 1980s, Lovett often played solo acoustic sets at the small bars just off the A&M campus.

Career[]

Lovett began his music career as a songwriter, but he soon signed with MCA Records in 1986 and released his eponymous debut album. He sang harmony vocals on Nanci Griffith's "The Last of the True Believers" album (1986). While typically associated with the country genre, Lovett's compositions often incorporate folk, swing, blues, jazz and gospel music as well as more traditional country & western styling. He has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album (1996 for The Road to Ensenada), Best Country Duo/Group with Vocal (1994 for "Blues For Dixie" with the Texas swing group Asleep at the Wheel), Best Pop Vocal Collaboration (1994 for "Funny How Time Slips Away" with Al Green) and Best Country Male Vocal (1989 for Lyle Lovett and His Large Band). In 1995, Lovett performed a duet of "You've Got a Friend in Me" with Randy Newman for Toy Story. He plays Collings acoustic guitars.[7]

Lyle Lovett performing on the Watson Stage at MerleFest in 2011, Wilkes County, N.C.

[1] Lovett has acted in a number of films, notably four for director Robert Altman: The Player (1992), Short Cuts (1993), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), and Cookie's Fortune (1999). He also composed the score for the director's Dr. T & the Women (2000). Some of his other film roles include Bastard Out Of Carolina (1996), The New Guy (2002), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), and a humorous role in Angels Sing, a family Christmas movie (alongside fellow actors and musicians such as Harry Connick, Jr., Connie Britton, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson).[8] His television acting forays include guest roles on Mad About You and Castle, a recurring role on The Bridge (as Flagman, a lawyer), and appearances as himself on Dharma & Greg and Brothers & Sisters.

Mary Chapin Carpenter's 1992 song "I Feel Lucky" makes reference to Lovett, as does Bloodhound Gang's 1999 song "The Bad Touch", which includes the lyric, "and you'll Lovett just like Lyle."

Lovett was given an award called an "Esky" for Surest Thing in Esquire's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue. The magazine said of Lovett: "The secret of Lyle Lovett's endurance comes down to the three C's: class, charisma and consistency... In the studio and on stage with his giant orchestra, he's spent two decades gracefully matching genuine songcraft with A-list musicianship".

In 2010, Lovett appeared on an episode of Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... that also featured John Prine and Ray LaMontagne.

In 2011, Lovett was named Texas State Artist Musician by the Texas Commission on the Arts.[9]

Lovett contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Well... All Right" for the tribute album Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, released on September 6, 2011.

Lovett was among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[10]

On October 24, 2019, Lovett was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.

Personal life[]

Lovett performing at the Oregon Zoo, July 2016

Lovett married actress Julia Roberts after meeting her on the set of The Player. Following a three-week romance, they eloped and married in June 1993 in Marion, Indiana. In March 1995, they divorced after less than two years of marriage. People magazine reported that the breakup was caused by career demands.[11] They remained friends afterwards.[12]

Since late 1997, Lovett has been in a relationship with April Kimble. They became engaged in 2003. They were married on February 4, 2017, in Harris County, Texas.

On March 28, 2002, Lovett was trapped by a bull against a fence on his uncle's farm in Klein, Texas, before being pulled to safety. He fully recovered after six months from a badly broken leg, and he began touring again in summer 2003.

Lovett was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Houston on May 15, 2010, at its general commencement ceremony.[13][14] His mother was in the audience as her son was presented with an honorary doctorate from the same university from which she had received her bachelor's degree in 1960.[15] His father was also a graduate of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture of the University of Houston.[13]

In 2015, Lovett received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Texas A&M University.

Lovett is also a horse enthusiast and co-owns and competes in reining competitions with world class Quarter Horse, Smart and Shiney.[16][17][18] In 2012, Lovett was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.[19] In 2018, he was awarded the National Reining Horse Association Lifetime Achievement Award in the National Reining Horse Association Hall of Fame.[20]

Discography[]

Main article: Lyle Lovett discography

Filmography[]

Musician[]

  • Still Alice (2014) — song performer "If I Had A Boat"; songwriter for Karen Elson's performance of same
  • The Bridge (TV series, 2014)
  • True Blood (TV series, episode "I Will Rise Up", 2009) — song performer "I Will Rise Up"
  • Walk Hard (2007) — song performer "Walk Hard"
  • Deadwood (TV series, episode "Bullock Returns to the Camp", 2005) — song performer "Old Friend" (1994)
  • The Exonerated (TV movie, 2005) — song performer "Amazing Grace"
  • The Interpreter (2005) — song performer "If I Had a Boat"
  • 61* (TV movie, 2001) — song performer "Nobody Knows Me"
  • All Over the Guy (2001) — song performer and composer "She Makes Me Feel Good" and "The Blues Walk"
  • Dr. T & the Women (2000) — Song performer and composer and also used a recording of "You've Been So Good Up to Now" (1992), "She's Already Made Up Her Mind" (1992), "Ain't It Something" (1994)
  • For Love of the Game (1999) — song performer "Summer Wind"
  • Stuart Little (1999) — song performer "Walking Tall"
  • Mumford (1999) — song performer "Ballad of the Snow Leopard and The Tanqueray Cowboy", "Till It Shines"
  • Clay Pigeons (1998) — song performer "Teach Me About Love"
  • Hope Floats (1998) — song performer "Smile"
  • The Apostle (1997) — song performer "(I'm a) Soldier in the Army of the Lord"
  • Toy Story (1995) — song performer "You've Got a Friend in Me" with Randy Newman as the lead vocals.
  • Beverly Hills, 90210 (TV series, episode "One Wedding and A Funeral", 1995) — song performer "Nobody Knows Me"
  • Quiz Show (1994) — song performer "Moritat" by Kurt Weill
  • With Honors (1994) — song performer "Blue Skies"
  • Major League II (1994) — song performer and composer "All My Love Is Gone"
  • The Firm (1993) — song performer "M-O-N-E-Y"
  • Leap of Faith (1992) — song performer "Pass Me Not"
  • The Crying Game (1992) — song performer "Stand By Your Man"
  • Major League (1989) — song performer "Cryin' Shame"
  • Always (1989) — song performer "Cowboy Man"

Actor[]

Theatre[]

Actor[]

Composer[]

Honors[]

Year Honor Reference
2012 Inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame [23]

Citations[]

  1. ^ Lyle Lovett Page at Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007
  2. ^ "Lyle Lovett". GRAMMY.com. June 4, 2019.
  3. ^ "Lyle Lovett - Musician". Visit Houston. Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau. 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2013. I was born at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX.
  4. ^ "Musician Recalls Early Connection to UH". University of Houston (University website). University of Houston. September 21, 2012. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2013. I was born at Methodist [hospital] and never lived anywhere else but Houston.
  5. ^ "[No title]". Houstorian (Facebook page). James Glassman. November 1, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2013. Mr. Lovett just DM'ed me that he was born in Methodist Hospital in the Medical Center.
  6. ^ "Lyle Lovett: 'My Baby Don't Tolerate'". Npr.org. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  7. ^ "Fretbase: Play Guitar Like Lyle Lovett". Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  8. ^ "Angels Sing". IMDb. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  9. ^ "State Musician | Texas Commission on the Arts". Arts.texas.gov. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  10. ^ Rosen, Jody (June 25, 2019). "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  11. ^ Schneider, Karen S. (April 10, 1995). "One Last Sad Song". People. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
  12. ^ "Lyle Lovett goes where the love is". Heraldscotland.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Musician Recalls Early Connection to University of Houston". University of Houston. Archived from the original on May 19, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  14. ^ "The University of Houston to Graduate More Than 4,500 Students". University of Houston. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  15. ^ "Singer and songwriter Lyle Lovett received an honorary degree during the ceremony". Houston Chronicle. May 15, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  16. ^ Peters, Stephanie (December 23, 2014). "The Renaissance Cowboy of Texas". eqliving.com. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  17. ^ "Horse & Rider Q&A with Lyle Lovett". Horse & Rider. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  18. ^ Hudak, Joseph (August 27, 2014). "Hear Pat Green and Lyle Lovett's Ode to Texas Girls". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  19. ^ "Inductees". Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  20. ^ "Dale Wilkinson Lifetime Achievement Award". National Reining Horse Association Hall of Fame. www.nrha.com. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  21. ^ "The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles Presents Much Ado About Nothing". Center Theatre Group. Archived from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2010.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b "Lyle Lovett joining Helen Hunt in cast of 'Much Ado About Nothing'". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. December 2, 2010. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  23. ^ "Lyle Lovett". Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. November 20, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2020.

Sources[]

External links[]

Awards
First
None recognized before
 AMA Americana Trailblazer Award
2007 		Succeeded by
Nanci Griffith
Retrieved from ""