Larry Wayne Gatlin was born in
Seminole in
Gaines County, Texas, United States, next to the
New Mexico border. His father was an oilfield worker, and the family lived in several locations while he was a youth, including
Abilene and
Odessa. but he chose to attend the
University of Houston. He later auditioned for and joined the gospel music group
the Imperials. The Imperials went on to perform in
Las Vegas in January 1971 at ''
Jimmy Dean's Las Vegas Revue''. While walking through the showroom, Gatlin caught country singer
Dottie West's attention, who thought that he resembled
Mickey Newbury. West was impressed with Gatlin's songwriting skills, and she recorded two of his compositions, "You're the Other Half of Me" and "Once You Were Mine".
With the Gatlin Brothers in 1985 (from left to right: Larry, Steve and Rudy) In 1979, when Gatlin signed with
Columbia Records, he decided to officially have his brothers billed as Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers. In October, they released the album
Straight Ahead. It spawned the single "
All the Gold in California", which became their greatest hit together, reaching number one on the
Hot Country Songs list. This was Gatlin's second number-one hit, and he was named Top Male Vocalist of the Year by the
Academy of Country Music. On June 6, 1980,
Straight Ahead was certified gold. The group's next big hit came in early 1980 with "Take Me to Your Lovin' Place", which peaked at number five in 1981. They next released "What Are We Doin' Lonesome", which peaked at number four later in the year. They continued with top-10 and top-20 hits such as "In Like with Each Other" (1982), "She Used to Sing on Sunday" (1982), "Sure Feels Like Love" (1982), "Almost Called Her Baby by Mistake" (1983) and "Denver" (1984). In 1983, the group released their third and last number-one hit, "Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)". That year they also provided backing for
Kenny Rogers on his hit single "Buried Treasure," though it is often mistaken the vocals were of
The Bee Gees who wrote the song for Rogers' album
Eyes That See in the Dark. On January 19, 1985, the Gatlin Brothers sang "All the Gold in California" at the nationally televised second inauguration gala for
Ronald Reagan. Though the group never achieved another number-one hit, they continued to chart for the remainder of the decade, including the hits "She Used to Be Somebody's Baby" (1986, number two), "Talkin' to the Moon" (1987, number four) and "Love of a Lifetime" (1988, number four). The Gatlin Brothers were also one of the first country groups to appear in music videos, such as
1984's "
The Lady Takes the Cowboy Everytime". In 1985, Gatlin wrote the song "Indian Summer" with
Barry Gibb, which he recorded as a duet with
Roy Orbison. In 1989, the Gatlin Brothers sang "
The Star-Spangled Banner" before Game 3 of the
1989 World Series at
Candlestick Park in San Francisco just before the
Loma Prieta earthquake occurred. They also sang the national anthem at Game 5 of the
1985 World Series and Game 6 of the
2005 NBA Finals.
Later work Gatlin's chart success declined greatly when a new breed of
neotraditional country singers entered Nashville around 1986. New stars such as
Dwight Yoakam and
Randy Travis pushed Gatlin and other Countrypolitan vocalists out of the top 10. Gatlin recorded a duet in 1987 with country-pop singer
Janie Fricke, but the song reached only number 21. He briefly signed with
Universal Records in 1989, where he recorded his last singles. His last charting single was released in 1989, titled "Number One Heartache Place". Gatlin underwent surgery on his vocal cords in 1991. In concert, he had begun to struggle with the high falsetto notes that were featured prominently in many of his songs. After recovery, Gatlin worked briefly with an opera coach to rebuild his voice, and his vocals took a powerful operatic style. s in
Croatia after a performance in 1995 After more than a decade of singing together, in December 1992, the Gatlin Brothers embarked on a farewell tour before retiring to their own theater in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Gatlin starred in the
Broadway production of
The Will Rogers Follies. In 1994, Gatlin and his brothers opened a 2,000-seat theater in Myrtle Beach. In 1995, he played himself in the television movie about
Dottie West's life,
Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story. West had been killed four years earlier in an automobile accident. Along with
celebrity biographer Jeff Lenburg, Gatlin wrote a memoir titled
All the Gold in California that was published in 1998. In 1999, Gatlin toured and entertained troops of the
1st Cavalry Division in
Bosnia. Since 2010, Gatlin has contributed to
Fox News Channel and
Fox Business Network as a political and social commentator. In 2010, Gatlin acted as substitute host for
Don Imus on
Imus in the Morning and on
Fox Across America with Spencer Hughes on March 16, 2011. He also hosts radio shows for
WSM, including a weekly gospel program, and the
Grand Ole Opry spinoff
Opry Country Classics. In 2023, Larry, Steve, and Rudy
The Gatlin Brothers have released two new singles; "Fair Winds" and "Amazing' (What Just The Right 3 Minutes Can Do)." == Discography ==