Billy Gilman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008) |
| Billy Gilman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | William Wendell Gilman III |
| Born | May 24, 1988 |
| Origin | Hope Valley, Rhode Island, United States |
| Genre(s) | Country |
| Years active | 1999—present |
| Associated acts | Ray Benson Asleep at the Wheel |
| Website | Official website |
William Wendell "Billy" Gilman III (born May 24, 1988) is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 12, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the Billboard country music charts and became the youngest singer to chart a Top 40 hit on the country music charts. An album of the same name was released later that year on Epic Records, and was certified 2× Multi-platinum in the United States. Following it were a Christmas album and Dare to Dream, both of which were certified gold without a Top 40 single. He exited Epic's roster signed to Image Entertainment in 2005 releasing Everything and More. In 2006, he released the self-titled Billy Gilman.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
 |
This section requires expansion with: more biographical info. |
Born William Wendell Gilman on May 24, 1988, in Westerly, Rhode Island, he was raised in Hope Valley, Rhode Island.[1] Gilman began singing before he was in school, and gave his first public performance at age 7. At the age of 8, Gilman was discovered by Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, who helped him record demos.[1] Gilman was then signed to Epic Records Nashville in 2000.
[edit] Musical career
Gilman released his debut single, "One Voice", in 2000. Eleven years old at the time of its release, he became the youngest artist to chart a single on the Billboard country charts.[1] "One Voice" peaked at #20 late in the year, and was the first single from his debut album, also titled One Voice. This album, certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA for shipping two million copies, also produced the #33 single "Oklahoma".
In January 2001, he was voted the American Music Awards' favorite new country artist, becoming the youngest contender to ever win that prize. He was also given entry into Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest singer to reach #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.[2]
Gilman was featured on British soprano Charlotte Church's album Dream A Dream and released a Christmas album in 2000 titled Classic Christmas, which was certified Gold by the RIAA. In 2001, Billy released his third album, Dare to Dream,[1] which was also certified gold, although neither of its singles ("She's My Girl" and "Elisabeth") reached Top 40.
His final album for Epic was entitled Music Through Heartsongs: Songs Based on the Poems of Mattie J.T. Stepanek. These songs were based on poems written by Mattie Stepanek, a poet with muscular dystrophy who died in 2004.[1] This album did not account for any singles.
Gilman signed to Image Entertainment in 2005 for the release of his fifth album, Everything and More, which produced no charting singles. A self-titled album followed in 2006.
[edit] Personal life
Gilman lives in Hope Valley with his parents Bill and Fran Gilman and his younger brother Colin, frequently flying back to Nashville to write and record.[citation needed]. He is also the National Youth Chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | US Indie | CAN Country | ||||||
| 2000 | One Voice
|
1 | 22 | — | 6 |
|
|||
| 2001 | Dare to Dream
|
6 | 45 | — | * |
|
|||
| 2003 | Music Through Heartsongs: Songs Based on the Poems of Mattie J.T. Stepanek
|
15 | 109 | — | * | ||||
| 2005 | Everything and More
|
39 | — | 17 | — | ||||
| 2006 | Billy Gilman
|
55 | — | 29 | — | ||||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart or not released * denotes unknown peak positions |
|||||||||
[edit] Holiday albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | US Holiday | |||
| 2000 | Classic Christmas
|
4 | 42 | 5 |
|
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | US AC | CAN Country | ||||||
| 2000 | "One Voice" | 20 | 38 | 29 | 23 | One Voice | |||
| 2001 | "Oklahoma" | 33 | 63 | — | * | ||||
| "There's a Hero" | — | — | — | * | |||||
| "She's My Girl" | 50 | — | — | * | Dare to Dream | ||||
| "Elisabeth" | 56 | — | — | * | |||||
| 2005 | "Everything and More" | — | — | — | — | Everything and More | |||
| "Hey, Little Suzie (The Cause of All That)" | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2006 | "Gonna Find Love" | — | — | — | — | Billy Gilman | |||
| "Southern Star" | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2007 | "Crying" | — | — | — | — | non-album songs | |||
| 2008 | "When You Come Home" | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart or not released * denotes unknown peak positions |
|||||||||
[edit] Other charted songs
| Year | Single | US Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Warm and Fuzzy" | 50 | Classic Christmas |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e Huey, Steve. "Billy Gilman biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wpfuxqrkldke~T1. Retrieved on 2009-03-26.
- ^ http://billygilman.com/online/bio.html
