Robert Crosby (born April 25, 1954), known professionally as Rob Crosby, is an American country music artist. Between 1990 and 1996, Rob charted eight singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. He has also recorded six studio albums, with his most recent, Catfish Day, being released in 2007. He also co-wrote Eric Paslay's 2014 single "Friday Night", The Common Linnets' 2014 single "Calm After the Storm", Martina McBride's 2003 single "Concrete Angel", Andy Griggs' 2000 single "She's More" and Lee Greenwood's 1990 single "Holdin' a Good Hand" and has written songs for Luke Combs, Lady Antebellum, Carl Perkins, Paul Simon, Brooks & Dunn, Restless Heart, Blackhawk, Darryl Worley, Boy Howdy, Ty Herndon, Don Williams, Ilse DeLange, Trace Adkins, Lee Brice and more.
Rob Crosby | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Robert Crosby[1][2][3] |
| Born | April 25, 1954 |
| Origin | Sumter, South Carolina, United States |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Guru Southern Tracks Arista Nashville River North CSC |
| Website | robcrosby |
Biography
editEarly life
editRobert Crosby was born and raised in Sumter, South Carolina, graduating in the Sumter High School class of 1972. He wrote his first song when he was nine years old;[2] by the time he started the fifth grade, he had his own band, The Radiations.[2] During high school and college, he performed in South Carolina, and eventually across the Southeast.[4] In 1984, Crosby moved to Nashville with his family and began playing in local clubs.[2]
Songwriter
editIn 1984, an Atlanta businessman offered Crosby $700 a month for a cut in his future songwriting royalties.[5] After getting a job as a staff writer, country music group Chance took his song "She Told Me Yes" to the top 30 in 1985.[2] Since then, many songs written by Crosby have reached the Billboard top 10, including "Friday Night" by Eric Paslay, "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride, "She's More" by Andy Griggs and "Holdin' a Good Hand" by Lee Greenwood.[3][6] Crosby's songs have been recorded by Blackhawk, Brooks & Dunn, Ty Herndon, Paul Overstreet, Carl Perkins, Restless Heart, Ricochet, Paul Simon, The Wilkinsons and Darryl Worley, among others.[7][8]
Music career
editIn the 1970s and '80s, Rob recorded music for independent labels: Guru Records and Southern Tracks Records. After a performance at a songwriter's night, Crosby was signed to Arista Nashville.[2] The label released his debut album, Solid Ground, in 1991. The first three singles, "Love Will Bring Her Around," "She's a Natural" and "Still Burnin' for You," all reached the top 20 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. But after two commercially unsuccessful albums, Crosby was dropped from Arista in 1993. In 1995, he signed with River North and released his third album, Starting Now. Both singles released from the project peaked outside of the top 60 on Billboard. The same year, he was offered a chance to join the country music band Burnin' Daylight (which featured former members of Southern Pacific and Exile); however, he decided to focus on his solo career instead.[5]
Crosby returned to CSC Records in 2003 with One Light in the Dark, a collection of original songs.[7] He has released two albums since, 2003's Time Is a Gypsy and 2007's Catfish Day.[9]
In 2014, Rob joined dutch band 'The Common Linnets', together with his son Matthew. The band consisted of popular dutch singer/songwriters Ilse DeLange and Waylon. They released two successful albums. Ilse and Waylon contended in 2014's Euro Song Contest and finished second nd with a song Rob co-wrote "Calm After The Storm".
Discography
editAlbums
edit| Title | Album details | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| US Country [10] | ||
| Rob Crosby[11] |
|
— |
| Solid Ground[12] |
|
74 |
| Another Time and Place |
|
— |
| Starting Now |
|
— |
| One Light in the Dark |
|
— |
| Time Is a Gypsy |
|
— |
| Catfish Day |
|
— |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||
Singles
edit| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | CAN Country | |||
| 1987 | "Heart On The Run"[13] | — | — | — |
| 1988 | "This Is The Night"[14] | — | — | |
| 1990 | "Love Will Bring Her Around" | 12 | 10 | Solid Ground |
| 1991 | "She's a Natural" | 15 | 10 | |
| "Still Burnin' for You" | 20 | 25 | ||
| 1992 | "Working Woman" | 28 | 29 | |
| "She Wrote the Book" | 53 | 73 | Another Time and Place | |
| "In the Blood" | 48 | 53 | ||
| 1995 | "The Trouble with Love" | 64 | — | Starting Now |
| 1996 | "Lady's Man"[15] | 64 | — | |
| "Fallin' In and Crawlin' Out"[16] | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Music videos
edit| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Love Will Bring Her Around" | Jim May |
| 1991 | "She's a Natural" | Sylvie Jacquemin |
| 1992 | "She Wrote the Book" | Chris Rogers |
| "In the Blood" | Michael Merriman | |
| 1995 | "The Trouble with Love" | Chris Rogers |
Chart Singles written by Rob Crosby
editThe following is a list of Rob Crosby compositions that were chart hits.
| Year | Single Title | Recording Artist | Chart Positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Country | Billboard Hot 100 | RPM Country | ||||||
| 1985 | She Told Me Yes |
Chance | 30 | |||||
| 1990 | Holdin' a Good Hand co-written with Johnny Few |
Lee Greenwood | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 1994 | She Should’ve Been Mine co-written with Kent Blazy and Jim Dowell |
Western Flyer | 62 | |||||
| 1999 | She's More co-written with Liz Hengber |
Andy Griggs | 2 | 37 | 2 | |||
| 2002 | Concrete Angel co-written with Stephanie Bentley |
Martina McBride | 5 | 47 | ||||
| 2006 | Do We Still co-written with Rockie Lynne and Will Rambeaux |
Rockie Lynne | 46 | |||||
| 2009 | Til the Last Shot's Fired co-written with Doug Johnson |
Trace Adkins | 50 | 105 | ||||
| 2013 | Friday Night co-written with Eric Paslay and Rose Falcon |
Eric Paslay | 2 | 47 | ||||
References
edit- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
- ^ a b c d e f "Rob Crosby Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
- ^ a b Brunson, Dennis (March 12, 1994). "He's a Natural". The Item. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
- ^ "robcrosby.com – Home". Robcrosby.com.
- ^ a b "Rob Crosby Biography". Oldies.com. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
- ^ "Rob Crosby". Robcrosby.com. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
- ^ a b "CD Baby Music Store". Store.cdbaby.com. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
- ^ "Suggerimenti per i casinò online – Come scegliere e giocare al casinò online". Nashvillehype.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2006. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Music". Robcrosby.com. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
- ^ "Top Country Albums". Billboard. July 13, 1991. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
- ^ "Rob Crosby – Rob Crosby (1979, LP)". Discogs.com. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
- ^ "Album Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. January 8, 1991.
- ^ "Heart On The Run – Rob Crosby (1987, Single)". Discogs.com. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ "This Is The Night – Rob Crosby (1988, Single)". Discogs.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
- ^ "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. December 9, 1995.
- ^ "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. June 8, 1996.