John Michael Montgomery

John Michael Montgomery (born January 20, 1965) is an American country music singer. He has had more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This total includes seven number-one singles: "I Love the Way You Love Me", "I Swear", "Be My Baby Tonight", "If You've Got Love", "I Can Love You Like That", "Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)", and "The Little Girl". "I Swear" and "Sold" were ranked as the number-one songs on the Billboard Year-End charts for country music in 1994 and 1995, respectively. Several of Montgomery's singles crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, his highest peak there having been achieved by "Letters from Home" in 2004. Montgomery has released ten studio albums: seven through Atlantic Records Nashville, two via parent company Warner Records Nashville, and one on his own Stringtown label. His first three albums, Life's a Dance (1992), Kickin' It Up (1994), and John Michael Montgomery (1995) are all certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); 1996's What I Do the Best is certified platinum; while Leave a Mark (1998) and Brand New Me (2000) are certified gold. Montgomery has won four Academy of Country Music awards and two Country Music Association awards.

Montgomery's musical style includes a mix of country pop ballads and up-tempo material, and he has seen mixed to positive critical reception. Many critics have compared his musical image and singing voice to those of Garth Brooks. "I Swear" and "I Can Love You Like That" were both covered by All-4-One, while "I Love the Way You Love Me" was covered by Boyzone. His brother Eddie founded the duo Montgomery Gentry in the late 1990s; his nephew Dillon Carmichael and son-in-law Travis Denning are also country music singers.

John Michael Montgomery was born January 20, 1965, in Danville, Kentucky, as the second of three children to Harold and Carol Montgomery. The family grew up in nearby Nicholasville. Harold was a local musician who played at various honky-tonks throughout Kentucky and taught John Michael how to play guitar at an early age. By the time Montgomery was 15 years old, he began playing rhythm guitar in his family's band, Harold Montgomery and the Kentucky River Express, which his brother Eddie later joined as well. During his senior year of high school, Montgomery stocked frozen food at a local grocery store and lived with his grandmother after her husband died. These circumstances led to Montgomery missing over 70 days of school before deciding to drop out and complete his education through General Educational Development (GED).

Following their parents' divorce, Eddie and John Michael founded another group called Early Tymz, also known as John Michael Montgomery and Young Country, which had a regular performing gig at Austin City Saloon in Lexington, Kentucky. The brothers shared an apartment, and John Michael worked at a liquor store to support them financially. John Michael dated a hairstylist named Kelly Welch for three years, and briefly became engaged to her, but later reneged as he wanted to focus on music. Additionally, he had his truck repossessed after missing loan payments; as Welch's grandmother co-signed the loan, Welch sued Montgomery for $5,000 before settling out of court. In 1990, Montgomery performed a solo show at the Congress Inn, another bar in Lexington, where he was discovered by music manager Estill Sowards. Sowards came in contact with representatives of the Nashville division of Atlantic Records, who also attended the Congress Inn to hear his performances. He signed to Atlantic Records Nashville in 1991, and spent the next year selecting and recording songs.

The label originally selected songwriter and guitarist Wyatt Easterling to serve as Montgomery's producer, but Montgomery was unsatisfied with Easterling's production and song choices. In response, Montgomery called Rick Blackburn (then-vice president of Atlantic Records's Nashville division) in the middle of the night to demand a different producer. Although Montgomery feared his actions would be negatively received, Blackburn ultimately recommended producer Doug Johnson. Blackburn allowed Montgomery to discard six songs recorded with Easterling in favor of ones selected by him and Johnson. Contributing musicians included guitarist Brent Rowan, bassist Willie Weeks, and drummer Owen Hale. The four songs from Easterling and six from Johnson became Montgomery's debut album Life's a Dance. Atlantic released the title track (written by Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin) as the lead single in September 1992, prior to the album's release in 1993. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. "I Love the Way You Love Me" was the second single. Written by Chuck Cannon and Victoria Shaw, the song became Montgomery's first number-one single on the country charts in 1993. It also went to number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1998, Irish group Boyzone released a cover version of the song. "Beer and Bones", the last single from the project, was less successful on the country music charts with a peak at number 21. All three of the album's singles were among the tracks produced by Johnson. Also included on the album was a cover of Rex Allen Jr.'s 1984 single "Dream On Texas Ladies".

Life's a Dance was met with mixed critical reception. Brian Mansfield reviewed the album favorably for AllMusic, praising Montgomery's baritone singing voice and the Western swing influence on certain tracks. The Spokesman-Review writer Debbie Fichtenberg Lind rated the album "B". Her review was also positive toward Montgomery's singing voice and the lyrics of the first two singles, but was more critical toward the lyrics of "Beer and Bones" and "Dream On Texas Ladies". Billy Altman of Entertainment Weekly considered both the lyrics of "Life's a Dance" and Montgomery's overall musical image derivative of Garth Brooks, and rated the album "D". In 1995, Life's a Dance achieved a triple-platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), honoring shipments of three million copies. Montgomery was nominated for a Horizon Award (now known as Best New Artist) from the Country Music Association (CMA) in both 1993 and 1994, and won the award in the latter year. At the 1993 Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards, Montgomery won Top New Male Vocalist, while "I Love the Way You Love Me" won Song of the Year.

Montgomery's second Atlantic album, 1994's Kickin' It Up, was led off by the single "I Swear". Written by Gary Baker and Frank J. Myers, it became Montgomery's second number-one single, as well as his longest-tenured at four weeks. Billboard later ranked it as the number-one country single of 1994 on their Year-End charts. Additionally, it achieved a number 42 entry on the Hot 100. Soon after Montgomery's rendition, contemporary R&B group All-4-One released a cover version, which went on to become a number-one single on the Hot 100. The album itself peaked at number one on both Top Country Albums and the Billboard 200, accounting for his only number-one entry on the latter. Its next single, "Rope the Moon", peaked at number four on the country charts; during this song's chart run, the album cut "Kick It Up" also charted for two weeks from unsolicited airplay. After these songs, both "Be My Baby Tonight" and "If You've Got Love" topped the country charts in 1994. Richard Fagan and Ed Hill wrote the former, while Seskin and Mark D. Sanders wrote the latter. Scott Hendricks produced the album, with musical contributors including guitarists Dann Huff and Brent Mason; vocalists John Wesley Ryles and Harry Stinson; pianists Reese Wynans and John Barlow Jarvis; drummer Lonnie Wilson; and bassist Glenn Worf. Of the album's sound, Montgomery stated that he wanted it to be "rowdier" than his debut, which he felt lacked upbeat material outside "Beer and Bones".

Writing for AllMusic, Michael McCall thought the album benefited from having more upbeat material than its predecessor, although he also noted that it still had "contemporary ballads" such as "I Swear". Mansfield similarly opined in a review for New Country magazine that the album was more energetic than his debut, citing "Be My Baby Tonight" and "Friday at Five" as examples. "I Swear" won both Single of the Year and Song of the Year from the Academy of Country Music, and Single of the Year from the Country Music Association. It also accounted for his first nomination from the Grammy Awards, in the category of Best Male Country Vocal Performance. Kickin' It Up was certified quadruple-platinum in 1996. Montgomery promoted the album by touring as an opening act for Reba McEntire. Due to the commercial success, Montgomery said he was offered multiple opportunities to perform as a headlining act, but he declined as he thought he "was definitely not in the mental state" to do so.