John Daniel "Danny" Tate (born November 10, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, composer, producer, and former Virgin Records recording artist best known for writing songs which were covered by Jeff Healey, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tim McGraw, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Smithereens, Diesel, Nelson, David Lee Murphy, Billy Ray Cyrus, Doro (Doro Pesch), The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Patti LaBelle, Walk the West, Cactus Brothers, Carla Olson, Danny Wilde, and many other artists.
David Lee Murphy, The Warren Brothers, Doro, Tim McGraw, Russ Taff, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, The Smithereens, Rick Springfield, The Oak Ridge Boys, Patti LaBelle, Jeff Healey, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Travis Tritt, Dwight Yoakam, Diesel, Jack Casady, Nelson (Matthew and Gunnar Nelson), Béla Fleck, The Rembrandts, Danny Johnson, John Brannen, and John Cowan.
Touring continuously on a grueling schedule, Tate performed a combination of popular radio hits, his own songs, and told stories in a one-man show for high school students.
Tate wrote off the experience as being a brief encounter until he received a phone call from Springfield's manager, who requested the use of a substantial and extremely infectious part of the song.
[9] NSAI Rock Song of the Year 1998, 1999, 2000 BMI #1 Awards Multiple Platinum and Gold Records “Only an artist of rare talent, intelligence, and instinct could achieve the kind of lasting success that Tate has enjoyed"—Vincent Jeffries (VH1.com)[9]