Gary Burr

Gary Burr is one of Nashville's most accomplished songwriters, with 32 top forty hits, 24 top tens, and 14 number-one songs. He is one of the rare writers who has had hits both alone and as a co-writer, and his collaborators include Carole King, Richard Marx, Don Schlitz, Victoria Shaw, Kenny Loggins and Ringo Starr. His songs have been recorded by Christina Aguilera, Juice Newton, Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, Joe Cocker, Reba McEntire, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Kelly Clarkson and many others. He has been named Songwriter of the Year by Billboard and ASCAP, and twice by the NSAI, and he is a member of the Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame.

As a performer, Gary replaced Vince Gill as lead singer of Pure Prairie League, spent years writing and performing with Carole King, and played guitar and sang in Ringo Starr's band The Roundheads. He is a member of Laurel Canyon Band with Mark Mirando and Mark Hudson, performs as the duo Middleman Burr with Georgia Middleman, and co-founded Blue Sky Riders with Georgia Middleman and Kenny Loggins. A friendship with Ringo Starr that began with a record in the early 2000s has led to ten albums together.

Gary teaches songwriting to a new generation of musicians and was featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Poets and Prophets series. He has written a first novel, Reunion, drawing on his years working alongside well-known musicians, and he made the album Burr Shot First with his son Adam, a father-and-son songwriting team.