Country Music Artist John Conlee

John Wayne Conlee was born on a tobacco farm in Versailles, Kentucky. By age 10, Conlee had begun singing and playing guitar, and later sang tenor in a barbershop quartet. Conlee did not immediately take up a musical career, instead becoming a licensed mortician, employed by Duell-Clark Funeral Chapel, and later a disc jockey at radio station WLAC.

In pursuit of a music career, Conlee moved to Nashville, Tennessee, by 1971. He signed to ABC Records in 1976. Conlee charted for the first time in 1978 with “Rose Colored Glasses”, a No. 5 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, as well as the title track on his 1978 debut album. The album produced his first two No. 1 hits with “Lady Lay Down” and “Backside of Thirty”.

Following ABC’s merger with MCA Records, Conlee released his 1979 album Forever on MCA. Its singles, “Before My Time” (No. 2) and “Baby, You’re Something” (No. 7), were top ten hits. A second MCA release, Friday Night Blues, produced two more No. 2 hits: the title track and “She Can’t Say That Anymore”. The song “What I Had with You” (No. 12) followed. The 1981 album, With Love, accounted for yet another hit with “Miss Emily’s Picture” (No. 2), which Conlee performed live on Hee Haw on January 3, 1981.

Three more No. 1 hits came from the 1983 album In My Eyes: “I’m Only in It for the Love” (co-written with Kix Brooks), the title track and “As Long as I’m Rockin’ with You”. MCA also released a Greatest Hits album in 1983.

Blue Highway in 1984, his last studio album for MCA, produced another No. 2 with “Years After You”. A year later, a second Greatest Hits album produced his last MCA single with the No. 5 “Old School”, before he moved to Columbia Records. Conlee’s first Columbia release, Harmony, gave him a No. 1 hit with “Got My Heart Set on You” in 1986.

Between 1978 and 2004, Conlee charted a total of 32 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and recorded 11 studio albums. His singles include seven No. 1 hits: “Lady Lay Down”, “Backside of Thirty”, “Common Man”, “I’m Only in It for the Love”, “In My Eyes”, “As Long As I’m Rockin’ with You” and “Got My Heart Set on You”. In addition to these, Conlee had 14 other songs reach the Top Ten.

Conlee has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1981.

A Tribute to Merle Haggard Episode 1
Tribute: A Tribute to Merle Haggard
Country’s Family Reunion Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting
Tribute: A Tribute to Ray Price
Gospel: Old Time Gospel
Country’s Family Reunion Honky Tonk
Country’s Family Reunion Nashville
Tribute: Bill Anderson’s 50th Celebration
Tribute: Salute to the Kornfield
Country’s Family Reunion Gettin’ Together
Holiday: God Bless America Again
Country’s Family Reunion A Grand Ole Time
Country’s Family Reunion Bill Anderson’s 50th Celebration
Country’s Family Reunion Salute to the Kornfield
Country’s Family Reunion Another Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting
Gospel: Another Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting
Episode 5 Featuring John Conlee
Episode 3 Featuring John Conlee & Teea Goans
Episode 5 Featuring Janie Price, John Conlee & Jeannie Seely
Episode 5 Featuring John Conlee
Country’s Family Reunion Nashville Episode 1
A Grand Ole Time Episode 1
Salute To The Kornfield Episode 1
Gettin’ Together Episode 1
Old Time Gospel Episode 1
God Bless America Again Episode 1
Honky Tonk Episode 1
A Tribute to Ray Price Episode 1
Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting Episode 1
Lookin’ Back Episode 1
Another Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting Episode 1
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