Full name:
Dwight David Yoakam
Birth date:
Oct. 23, 1956
Birth place:
Pikeville, Ky.
First song learned on the guitar:
Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line"; "It was the first song where I could change from chord to chord while not losing the meter," Dwight recalls. He learned it "after church on a Sunday night. I was about 8 years old, sitting in the backseat of a 1960 Oldsmobile 98."
First song written:
At age 9, Dwight wrote "How Far Is Heaven," inspired by Walter Cronkite's coverage of the Vietnam War.
Biscuit boy:
Hankerin' for the perfect biscuit? Try Dwight's Bakersfield Biscuits, first offered at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace in 1996. To find the retailer closest to you, visit
Bakersfieldbiscuits.com.
Awards:
1998 Grammy for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals ("Same Old Train," with Clint Black, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris and others), 1993 Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male ("Ain't That Lonely Yet"), 1986 ACM award for New Male Vocalist
Platinum albums:
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc. (1986, 2 million), Hillbilly Deluxe (1987, 1 million), Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room (1988, 1 million), Just Lookin' For A Hit (1989, 1 million), If There Was A Way (1990, 1 million), This Time (1993, 3 million)
Billboard Top 5 singles:
"Honky Tonk Man" (No. 3, 1986), "Guitars, Cadillacs" (No. 4, 1986), "Streets Of Bakersfield" (with Buck Owens, No. 1, 1988), "I Sang Dixie" (No. 1, 1988), "I Got You" (No. 5, 1989), "You're The One" (No. 5, 1991), "Ain't That Lonely Yet" (No. 2, 1993), "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere" (No. 2, 1993), "Fast As You" (No. 2, 1993)
Discography:
