By Staff
IN CONCERT Lee Greenwood will perform at 8 tonight in the Conference Center at the Silver Star Hotel and Casino. Submitted photo
Special to The Star
Dec. 28, 2001
Grammy Award winner Lee Greenwood is touring again, and one of his final stops for the year will be the Silver Star Hotel and Casino at 8 p.m. tonight.
Greenwood will perform in the Silver Star Conference Center near the hotel and casino in Philadelphia.
Greenwood's career is an American success story. From his beginnings on a farm near Sacramento, Greenwood has achieved worldwide recognition in the entertainment business with a career spanning three decades.
He began honing his musical talent on the saxophone at age 10. He formed his first band, the Moonbeams, while still in junior high school. By the time he graduated from high school, Greenwood already was a seasoned performer.
His career became the focal point in his life so much so, that he turned down a music scholarship to the College of the Pacific and even abandoned a promising professional baseball career.
He skipped his own high school graduation because he was booked to perform a standing engagement in Reno, Nev.
In 1978, Greenwood flew to Nashville to write and record a demo session with the help of the Mel Tillis Band. The result led to a contract with MCA and record producer Jerry Crutchfield then head of MCA Publishing. Their first session together yielded such songs as "It Turns Me Inside Out," "Ring on Her Finger," "Time on Her Hand" and "Ain't No Trick."
Two years after his debut album, he was voted the Country Music Association's Male Vocalist of the Year. The next year he won the same award again, as well as a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance and, in 1984, the ACM Male Vocalist of the Year.
His first three albums achieved gold status, and his Greatest Hits quickly went platinum.
In 1985, a less publicized facet of his talent was recognized when the CMA awarded him Song of the Year honors for penning both the words and music to "God Bless The U.S.A."
In 1995, Greenwood took a break from touring.
He returned to the studio and resumed touring again in 1999, reuniting with Jerry Crutchfield on the project "Same River, Different Bridge." Greenwood's newest album, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," hit the stores earlier this year.
Tickets for tonight's concert may be charged by phone at (800) 557-0711 or purchased at the Silver Star Box Office. All tickets are non-refundable and people must be 21 or older to attend.
The Silver Star Conference Center is non-smoking.