Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. was born on July 30, 1958, in Jacksonville, Texas, to a Filipino-American mother and Irish-American father.

Inspired by the variety of music that his parents listened to, which included country, rock, disco and R&B, McGaughey first sang in his church choir before founding an R&B band.

After winning a 1981 talent contest hosted by Janie Fricke, he secured a spot as an opening act for Charley Pride.

[1] Crediting himself as Neal McGoy, a phonetic spelling of his surname,[2] he signed to the independent 16th Avenue Records label in 1988.

The other two releases were the title track, a cover of Billy Vera and the Beaters' #1 Hot 100 hit from late 1986-early 1987,[5] and "This Time I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me", which was co-written by Earl Thomas Conley and originally recorded by Conway Twitty.

The album produced his only number 1 country hits in its title track and "Wink", both of which also made minor entries on the Billboard Hot 100.

Although it was certified gold, Neal McCoy accounted for only one Top Ten hit in a cover of The Casinos' 1967 doo-wop single "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye".

Also in 1996, he sang guest vocals on the multi-artist charity single "Hope", the proceeds of which went to the T. J. Martell Foundation's cancer research.

McCoy made a second appearance on a multi-artist charity single that same year, as one of several collaborators on "One Heart at a Time", a song written by Victoria Shaw to benefit cystic fibrosis research.

Although the title track entered the country charts and peaked at number 46,[2] the album itself was not released, and McCoy exited Warner Bros. by the end of the year.

His first single for his own label was "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On", which reached the Top 10 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2005.

[11] McCoy's next single release, "The Last of a Dying Breed", a song preceded by a spoken-word intro from United States Army general Tommy Franks, peaked at 36.

Worley released his 2006 album Here and Now on 903, which produced the top 40 hits "Nothin' but a Love Thang" and "I Just Came Back from a War".

In one of them Neal acts like a puppet in the hands of the branch manager of the Mike Craig dealership in Hillsboro, Texas.

Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert co-produced the album with Brent Rowan, and sang backing vocals on its lead-off single "A-OK".

The album features guest appearances from Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, and Raul Malo of The Mavericks.

[3] McCoy is also the head of a charity called the East Texas Angel Network, which helps provide money for families of seriously ill children.