Don Schlitz

For his songwriting efforts, Don Schlitz has earned two Grammy Awards, as well as four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards. In 1993, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Later in 2012, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Furthermore, in 2017, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. During the Saturday night broadcast on June 11, 2022, Schlitz was invited by Vince Gill to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was officially inducted on August 30, 2022.

Schlitz’ first hit as a songwriter was Kenny Rogers’s “The Gambler”, which became a crossover Country hit upon its release in 1978, later becoming one of Rogers’s signature songs. Since then, Schlitz has written numerous Country songs and penned several hits for other Country artists. Among his biggest hits are two Number One songs which he co-wrote with Paul Overstreet, “Forever and Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis and “When You Say Nothing at All” by Keith Whitley. He has 24 number 1 hits on the Country Charts.

United States President George H. W. Bush also commissioned Schlitz to write a theme song for his “Points of Light” program. This song, “Point of Light”, was a No. 3 Country hit for Randy Travis in 1991. Schlitz also worked with Kenny Rogers again in 1998. Rogers joked at the time that “every 20 years I will record a Don Schlitz song”. The result was a baseball-themed hit single called “`The Greatest”. Rogers also recorded several more of his songs in 2013 for his best-selling You Can’t Make Old Friends album.