In 1974, Gene Watson was an auto-body repairman and the featured performer at Houston’s Dynasty nightclub when Capitol Records picked his single, “Love in the Hot Afternoon” for national distribution. It became the first of Watson’s top 10 hits in early 1975.
“Seems like my career just kind of happened accidentally,” says Gene. “It was purely unintentional. I never did have high expectations out of the music business. Even today, I never know what to expect from one day to the next.”
“But there is one thing: As far as I know, I do have an honest reputation in the music business and I wouldn’t take nothing for that. If anything in the world means ‘success’ to me, that right there does.”
Gene quit drinking in 1980 and quit smoking not long after that. He underwent surgery and survived colon cancer in 2000-2001. Through it all, he continued to record one critically applauded collection after another. He was inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the inaugural class of the the Houston, Texas Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
Asked why he is still in such high demand after all these years, Watson reflected “I think a lot of it is because there is not too much of what I do around anymore. I think there is still a hunger out there for traditional country music. So, I’d like to stay out there as long as I am able to do the job and do it well.”
To learn more about Gene Watson, visit: http://www.genewatsonmusic.com
