Ricky Van Shelton (born January 12, 1952)[1] is an American retired country music singer.
This figure includes 10 Number One hits: "Somebody Lied", "Life Turned Her That Way", 'Don't We All Have the Right", "I'll Leave This World Loving You", "From a Jack to a King" (a cover of the Ned Miller hit), "Living Proof", "I've Cried My Last Tear for You", "Rockin' Years" (a duet with Dolly Parton), "I Am a Simple Man", and "Keep It Between the Lines".
He also released nine studio albums, of which his first four were certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
After he graduated from high school, Shelton started performing in area clubs and also worked a series of jobs.
In 1984, Bettye Witt, his girlfriend at the time (and, since August 4, 1986, wife) found a job in Nashville, Tennessee, and Shelton went along with her.
[4] In Nashville, Shelton tried to land a deal with a recording contract, and worked in area nightclubs.
In 1986, Jerry Thompson, a newspaper columnist, heard one of Shelton's demos, and arranged an audition with Columbia Records.
[4] Soon thereafter, Shelton was offered a recording contract with CBS, with Jerry Thompson serving as his manager.
The next song from the album, "Crime of Passion" gained him an even bigger hit on the Country charts, when it reached the Top 10 early that year.
These songs were, "I'll Leave This World Loving You" (for two weeks in November 1988), "From a Jack to a King" (in March 1989), and "Living Proof" (in October 1989).
[4] By this time in country music, Neo-Traditionalism was in its peak, and because of this, so was Shelton's career, just like so many of his counterparts, like Clint Black, George Strait, Randy Travis, and Dwight Yoakam.
1 from the album, two singles came close, "Statue of a Fool" (originally recorded by Jack Greene) and "I Meant Every Word He Said", both of which reached number 2 on the Country charts.
[4] The series also contains "Quacker Meets Canadian Goose" and were all illustrated by Shan Williams Burklow.
[4] After being under Columbia Records, Shelton was absent from the Country chart for a long period of time.
In 2000, Shelton signed with the Audium label, where he made another album called Fried Green Tomatoes,[4] which spawned his first single in over five years called "The Decision", but it failed to make a substantial impact on the Country chart.