William Harold Dean Jr. (born April 2, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter.

[1] His father, also known as Billy Dean, maintained a band called The Country Rocks in his spare time.

He soon began touring in local clubs, and sang Frank Sinatra's "My Way" at his high school graduation.

[4] Dean was also a basketball player in high school, and was offered a scholarship to East Central Community College in Decatur, Mississippi.

[1] He also worked as a demo singer and took acting lessons, appearing in television commercials for McDonald's, Chevrolet and Valvoline.

This song and its follow-up, "Somewhere in My Broken Heart" (previously recorded by Randy Travis on his 1989 album No Holdin' Back[4]) were both No.

[2] He wrote and recorded the theme song to the ABC animated television series Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa, and hosted a Top 21 countdown on VH1.

Issued in 1993, it was his third straight gold-certified album, earning that certification from both the RIAA and CRIA.His lead-off single "Tryin' to Hide a Fire in the Dark" peaked at No.

Following it were "I Wanna Take Care of You", "I'm Not Built That Way", and a cover of Dave Mason's 1977 pop hit "We Just Disagree".

In 1998, Victoria Shaw and several other artists, including Dean, collaborated on the charity single "One Heart at a Time".

He also took up acting once more, appearing in the minor TV specials A Face to Kill For and Blue Valley Songbird.

[4] In 2000, he and Alison Krauss made guest appearances on Kenny Rogers' single "Buy Me a Rose", which reached the top of the Billboard country charts in May of that year.

A year later, Dean joined Suzy Bogguss and 12-year-old singer Jillian on "Please Keep Mom and Dad in Love," which was issued on Rogers's Dreamcatcher Records, and never included on an album.

[7] ^[A] Nominated alongside Alison Krauss and Kenny Rogers In January 2024, Dean released "Never Back Down," a single "inspired" by Ron DeSantis.