Lyle Lovett Biography

Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) is an American country singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 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. 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 Curbs Records contract, Release Me, was released in February 2012.

Biography

Early life

Lovett was born in North Harris County, Texas, in the community of Klein, 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. Lovett attended Texas A&M University, where he received Bachelors of Arts degrees in both German and Journalism in 1980. It is a common misconception that Lyle and Robert Earl Keen were roommates at A&M. They were not. However, they lived near each other in College Station, became good friends, and wrote "The Front Porch Song" together, which both went on to record.

Career

Lovett's music career began as a songwriter, but he soon signed with MCA Records in 1986 and released his eponymous debut album. 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).

Lovett has acted in a number of films, including Robert Altman's films: The Player (1992), Short Cuts (1993), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), Cookie's Fortune (1999), and composed for Dr. T & the Women (2000). More recently, he has acted in The New Guy (2002) and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007). His television acting forays include Mad About You, Brothers & Sisters, Castle (TV series), and Dharma & Greg. The Bloodhound Gang's song "The Bad Touch" does a reference to Lovett: "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".

Lovett primarily plays Collings acoustic guitars.

In 2010 Lovett appeared on an episode of Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... which also featured John Prine and Ray LaMontagne. He appeared on Castle in Season 3, Episode 43 in the role of a government agent.

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

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.

In 2013 Lovett appeared in Episode 2 of The Bridge, an FX series, as Flagman, a lawyer.

Personal life

Lovett's personal life was brought to the fore in 1993 when he married actress Julia Roberts. The couple had met on the set of The Player in 1992. After a three-week romance, they eloped and married in June 1993 in Marion, Indiana. The couple divorced less than two years later, in March 1995. People Magazine reported that the breakup was caused by career demands. The two remained friends afterwards.

Lovett became engaged to his former personal assistant April Kimble in 2003 but they remain unmarried.

On March 28, 2002 Lovett was caught by a bull and rammed into a fence on his uncle's farm in Klein, Texas, before being pulled to safety. He fully recovered from a badly broken leg after six months, and began touring again in the summer of 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. His mother was in the audience as her son was presented with an honorary doctorate from the same university she had received her bachelor's degree in 1960. His late father was also a graduate of the University of Houston.

Over the years, Lovett performed at various fundraising events for the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture of the University of Houston.

Discography

Television

Musician

• Beverly Hills 90210 (serial drama) " song performer "Nobody Knows Me"

Episode: One Wedding and A Funeral [Original air date: November 8, 1995]

• 1995 Major League Baseball All-Star Game - song performer "The Star-Spangled Banner"

[Original air date: July 11, 1995]

• 2010 World Series - song performer "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Game 4 [Original air date: October 30, 2010]

Both of Lovett's National Anthem performances were at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Filmography

Musician

• True Blood Ep. 22 (2009) " song performer "I Will Rise Up"
• Walk Hard (2007) " song performer "Walk Hard"
• Deadwood Ep. 107 (2005) " song performer "Old Friend" (1994)
• The Exonerated (2005 TV movie) " song performer "Amazing Grace"
• The Interpreter (2005) " song performer "If I Had a Boat"
• 61* (2001 TV movie) " 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.
• 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

• The Bridge (2013) " Flagman
• When Angels Sing (2011) " Griffin
• Castle (TV series) (2010) " Government Agent
• The Open Road (2008) " Bartender
• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) " Himself
• Brothers and Sisters (TV Series) (2007) " Something New " Himself
• The New Guy (2002) " Bear Harrison
• Three Days of Rain (2002) " Disc Jockey
• Dharma and Greg (TV series) " The Trouble With Troubadours (2000) " Himself
• Mad About You (TV series) " The Final Frontier (1999) " Lenny
• Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular (TV series) " Episode No. 1.23 (1999)
• Cookie's Fortune (1999) " Manny Hood
• The Opposite of Sex (1998) " Sheriff Carl Tippett
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) " Road Person
• Breast Men (1997) " Research Scientist
• Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) " Wade
• Mad About You (TV series) " Mad About You: Part 1 (1995) " Lenny
• Mad About You (TV series) " Mad About You: Part 2 (1995) " Lenny
• Prêt-à-Porter (1994) " Clint Lammeraux
• Short Cuts (1993) " Andy Bitkower
• The Player (1992) " Detective DeLongpre
• Bill: On His Own (1983 TV movie) " Singer at Beach

Theatre

Actor

• Much Ado About Nothing (The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, 2010) " Balthazar

Composer

• Much Ado About Nothing (The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, 2010)