Ronnie McDowell | |
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 Ronnie McDowell presenting hisReflections of a King print during a concert in Florida, 2007. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ronald Dean McDowell[1] |
| Born | (1950-03-25)March 25, 1950 (age 75)[2] |
| Origin | Portland, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Recording Artist,Painter[3] |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | Scorpion,Epic,MCA,Curb |
| Website | Official website |
Ronald Dean McDowell Sr. (born March 25, 1950)[2] is an Americancountry music artist. McDowell charted more than thirty Top 40 hits on theBillboard country music charts. Two of his singles – "Older Women" and "You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation" — reached Number One on the country charts, while eleven more reached Top Ten. He has also released more than twenty studio albums, and has been signed toCurb Records since 1986.
McDowell served in theUS Navy from 1968-72. He served on board theUSS Hancock andUSS Kitty Hawk.
Following the death ofElvis Presley in 1977, McDowell, a devoted fan of Presley’s, recorded a song that became his first country and only pop hit with his self-penned tribute song "The King Is Gone," which he recorded on the independent Scorpionrecord label. The record took off immediately, gainingairplay oncountry andpopradio stations across theUnited States and around the world.[1]
It peaked at number thirteen onBillboard's Hot 100 singles, and became agold record. In January 1978, McDowell performed the song on theNBC special,Nashville Remembers Elvis on His Birthday, in which he appeared alongside a number of Presley's contemporaries. To date, "The King Is Gone" has sold more than five million copies.[4]
McDowell was commissioned to cover a number of Presley's songs for the soundtrack to 1979 made-for-TV Presley biography filmElvis,[5] during whichKurt Russell, portraying Presley, lip-synched to McDowell's vocals. He actually recorded 36 songs, but not all of them were used in the film.[6] McDowell also sang the Presley vocals for the 1981 TV movieElvis and the Beauty Queen and for the 1988 TV miniseriesElvis and Me.[citation needed]
All of the Presley's vocals for the 1990 TV series,Elvis, were performed by McDowell.[5] McDowell also contributed to the 1997 Showtime special,Elvis Meets Nixon. He scored a second hit for the Scorpion label entitled "I Love You, I Love You, I Love You" before being signed byCBS RecordsEpic in 1979.[5]
McDowell charted a string of hitsingles and albums for Epic between 1979 and 1986. Every single release, except one, became aTop 10 hit, including "Older Women" and "You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation".[citation needed] Other hits during his Epic years included "Watching Girls Go By", "Personally", "You Made A Wanted Man Of Me", "Wandering Eyes", "All Tied Up", and "In a New York Minute".[citation needed]
Moving toCurb Records in 1986, McDowell scored a Top 10 hit with "It's Only Make Believe", aduet withConway Twitty on what had been Twitty's breakthroughrock and roll hit in 1958.[5] Initially a member of McDowell's back-up band would substitute for Twitty during live performances. Recently, however, McDowell has performed the song live with Twitty's pre-recorded voice, followed by a solo from a member of the back-up band.[citation needed]
In 1988, he teamed withJerry Lee Lewis for a duet that McDowell wrote, entitled "You're Never Too Old To Rock N' Roll". He recorded yet another Top 10 hit with hiscover version of the pop standard "Unchained Melody," which also became a No. 1 countrymusic video. He started appearing in larger venues and touring before headlining his own shows.[citation needed]
In 2002, McDowell recorded two albums forCurb Records, one consisting of beach music withRock & Roll Hall of FamerBill Pinkney's Original Drifters,Ronnie McDowell with Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters. The second project, a country album, entitledRonnie McDowell Country, a collection of six new McDowell penned songs and a few country standards.
In January 2017, McDowell collaborated withRichard Lynch on a military tribute duet "Love Tattoo".[7]
On January 17, 2018, he unveiled "The Magic Moment", his original painting of Presley getting his first guitar at the Tupelo Hardware Store in Tupelo, thus kicking off the pilot for his forthcoming TV show, entitledRonnie McDowell Painting America.
On January 22, 2019, McDowell was inducted into the Mississippi Music Project Hall of Fame in Biloxi, Mississippi and was awarded the MMP Music Award for his lifelong commitment to the music industry, by Commander Joseph W. Clark.[8]
In 2023, a collaboration withDolly Parton and theJordanaires, “I Dreamed About Elvis” (credited to “Dolly Parton with Ronnie McDowell and special guests The Jordanaires”), was released on Parton’s 2023 albumRockstar. It is unknown when McDowell’s contributions were recorded, but the Jordanaires’ vocals would have to have been recorded at some point prior to 2013, when group leader/first tenor Gordon Stoker died and when the group disbanded.
Ronnie McDowell resides inHendersonville, Tennessee. He has five children. His son, Tyler Dean McDowell, was also signed toCurb Records.[9] Another son, Ronnie Jr. and a nephew, Chris, recorded in a band called Six Shooter on Curb in 1991.[10]
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