Collin Raye

Name	Collin Raye
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Floyd Collin Wray
Born	August 22, 1959 (disputed)
Alias	Bubba Wray
Origin	De Queen, Arkansas, USA
Instrument	Vocals, bass guitar
Genre	Country
Years active	1990–present
Label	Epic, Aspirion, Country Roads, Starpointe, Saguaro Road
Associated acts	Susan Ashton, Jim Brickman, Paul Worley, The Wrays
Url	http://www.collinraye.com

Floyd Collin Wray (born August 22, 1959 or 1960, in De Queen, Arkansas) is an American country music singer, known professionally as Collin Raye. He made his debut on the American country music scene in 1991 with the release of his debut album All I Can Be, which produced his first Number One hit in "Love, Me". All I Can Be was the first of four consecutive albums released by Raye to achieve platinum certification in the United States for sales of one million copies each.

He maintained several Top Ten hits throughout the rest of the decade and into 2000. 2001's Can't Back Down was his first album that did not produce a Top 40 country hit, and he was dropped by his record label soon afterward. He did not record another studio album until 2005's Twenty Years and Change, released on an independent label.

Between 1991 and 2007, Raye charted thirty singles on the U.S. country charts; he has also charted twice on the Adult Contemporary format as a duet partner on two Jim Brickman songs. Four of Raye's singles have reached Number One on the Billboard country music charts: 1992's "Love, Me" and "In This Life", 1994's "My Kind of Girl", and 1998's "I Can Still Feel You". He has also recorded a total of eleven studio albums, counting a Christmas album and a compilation of lullabies, in addition to releasing a Greatest Hits compilation, a live album, and a live CD/DVD package. His most recent album, Never Going Back, was released via Saguaro Road Records on April 28, 2009.

Early years

Floyd Collin Wray was born in De Queen, Arkansas on August 22. His mother, Lois Wray, was a local musician; in the 1950s, she served as an opening act for several Sun Records artists, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. Later, she became a solo musician in her own right; she would occasionally bring both Floyd and his brother Scott onstage to sing harmony vocals. The song's accompanying music video also promoted Al-Anon, an international support group for friends and family of alcoholics.

In 1996, Raye also released a Christmas album titled . He also appeared on Stars and Stripes Vol. 1, a Beach Boys album featuring lead vocals by country musicians. A year later, his first Greatest Hits package was issued; titled , it comprised several of his hit singles from the past five years, as well as four new songs, of which three released as singles. "What the Heart Wants" and "Little Red Rodeo" both reached Top Five on the country music charts, while "The Gift", a collaboration with Jim Brickman and Susan Ashton, was a Top Five hit on the Adult Contemporary charts. Direct Hits received a gold certification from the RIAA for selling 500,000 copies in the United States.

The Walls Came Down

The Walls Came Down was the title of Raye's fifth studio album. Released in 1998, it produced his fourth and final Billboard Number One single in "I Can Still Feel You".

The same year, he appeared on compilation CD Tribute To Tradition (released on Columbia label) with cover versions of Cold Cold Heart (country classic recorded by Hank Williams in 1957) and Honky Tonk Heroes (Like Me) (a major hit for Waylon Jennings in 1973, written by Billy Joe Shaver). Raye duets with Joe Diffie on the latter song.

Counting Sheep, a special album composed of lullabies for Raye's children, was released in 2000.

2000s

2001 saw the release of Tracks, Raye's sixth album. Its first release, the primarily spoken-word "Couldn't Last a Moment", was a Top Five hit on the country charts. "Tired of Loving This Way", which followed, was a duet with singer and actress Bobbie Eakes. Although it was Raye's first single to miss the Top 40 entirely, it provided Eakes with her first and only appearance on the country music charts.

Can't Back Down, Raye's last album for Epic, was released in 2001. Neither of the album's two singles entered Top 40 on the country music charts. Because of a conflict with his label, Raye asked out of his contract that year. Although he did not have a record label at the time, he entered the Adult Contemporary charts for the third time in 2003, as a duet partner on Jim Brickman's single "Peace (Where the Heart Is)". 2004 saw the release of Raye's first live album, Live at Billy Bob's Texas, and a promotional single titled "World History 101" was released in 2005.

2005-present

In 2005, Raye signed to the independent Aspirion label, releasing his Twenty Years and Change album. Two singles were released from the album, although neither single charted. The same year, Raye appeared in television commercials for Fruit of the Loom underwear, in which he sang the jingle "You Can't Over-Love Your Underwear" and was a guest vocalist on the single "Merry Christmas Angel" by Brit, a tribute song to the events of September 11. Another studio album, Fearless, was released in 2006 on Country Roads Records, although it did not produce any singles.

In 2007, a CD/DVD combination titled The Power in You was released, followed by an EP titled Selected Hits. The latter includes "That's My Story", "Little Rock", "I Think About You" and "Love, Me", as well as two new tracks: "A Soldier's Prayer" and "Quitters", the latter of which was co-written by Canadian country singer George Canyon. Both of the new tracks were released as singles in 2007, and the former peaked at #59 on Hot Country Songs.

Raye's next album, Never Going Back, was released on April 28, 2009 on the Saguaro Road label. Its first single is "Mid-Life Chrysler". It also includes the track "She's With Me," which is a tribute to Raye's granddaughter, Haley, who died from a severe but undiagnosed brain disorder.

Musical stylings

Raye is known primarily for his country pop ballads, such as "Love, Me" (a popular choice at funerals) In the song's music video, a telephone number for the child abuse hotline ChildHelp USA was included.

Discography

Studio albums

All I Can Be (1991)

In This Life (1992)

Extremes (1993)

I Think About You (1995)

(1995)

The Walls Came Down (1998)

Counting Sheep (2000)

Tracks (2000)

Can't Back Down (2001)

Twenty Years and Change (2005)

Fearless (2006)

Never Going Back (2009)

Billboard number-one hits

"Love, Me" (3 weeks, 1992)

"In This Life" (2 weeks, 1992)

"My Kind of Girl" (1 week, 1995)

"I Can Still Feel You" (2 weeks, 1998)

Notes

References

External links

CollinRaye.com

Category:American country bass guitarists Category:American country singers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:Epic Records artists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Arkansas Category:Year of birth missing (living people)