Lyle Lovett
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the #10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man". Lovett has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album. His most recent, It's Not Big It's Large was released in 2007, where it debuted and peaked at #2 on the Top Country Albums chart.
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Biography
Early life
Lovett was born in the unincorporated region of Klein, Harris County (suburban Houston), Texas, the son of William and Bernell (née Klein) Lovett, a marketing executive and training specialist, respectively. He was raised as a Lutheran. Lovett attended Texas A&M University, where he studied German and journalism, and lived next door to Robert Earl Keen.
Career
Lovett's music career began as a songwriter, but he soon signed with MCA Records in 1986 and released his eponymous debut album. While typically associated with the country genre, Lovett's compositions often incorporate folk, swing, blues, jazz and gospel music as well as more traditional country & Western styling. He has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album (1996 for The Road to Ensenada), Best Country Duo/Group with Vocal (1994 for "Blues For Dixie" with the Texas swing group Asleep at the Wheel), Best Pop Vocal Collaboration (1994 for "Funny How Time Slips Away" with Al Green) and Best Country Male Vocal (1989) for Lyle Lovett and His Large Band).
Lovett has acted in a number of films, including Robert Altman's film The Player (1992), Short Cuts (1993), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), The Opposite of Sex (1998), Cookie's Fortune (1999), and composed for Dr. T & the Women (2000). More recently, he has acted in The New Guy (2002) and Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story (2007). His television acting forays include Mad About You, Brothers & Sisters and Dharma & Greg.
Lovett was given an Esky for Surest Thing in Esquire's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue. The magazine said of Lovett: "The secret of Lyle Lovett's endurance comes down to the three C's: class, charisma and consistency... In the studio and on stage with his giant orchestra, he's spent two decades gracefully matching genuine songcraft with A-list musicianship".
Lovett primarily plays Collings acoustic guitars.
Personal life
Lovett's personal life was brought to the fore in 1993 when he married actress Julia Roberts. The couple had met on the set of The Player in 1992. After a three-week romance, they eloped and married in June 1993 in Marion, Indiana. The couple divorced less than two years later, in March 1995. The marriage breakup was said to be caused by their career demands causing the two to often be away from each other. They would, though, remain friends, and Roberts would even sing one of Townes Van Zandt's songs (recorded by Lovett on Step Inside This House) in her 1998 movie Stepmom. To discover more about the relationship, devoted fans have spent long hours poring over the lyrics of Lovett's 1996 album, The Road To Ensenada. Lovett has been dating April Kimble since 1999.
His small-town life was again brought to the public's attention on March 28, 2002 when Lovett was caught by a bull and rammed into a fence on his uncle's farm in Klein, Texas, before being pulled to safety. Lovett fully recovered after six months and began touring again in the summer of 2003.
Filmography
Musician
- Walk Hard (2007) - Song Performer "Walk Hard"
- The Exonerated (2005 TV movie) - Song Performer "Amazing Grace"
- The Interpreter (2005) - Song Performer "If I Had a Boat"
- 61* (2001 TV movie) - Song Performer "Nobody Knows Me"
- All Over the Guy (2001) - Song Performer and composer "She Makes Me Feel Good" and "The Blues Walk"
- Dr. T & the Women (2000) - Song Performer and composer
and also used recording "You've Been So Good Up to Now" (1992), "She's Already Made Up Her Mind" (1992), "Ain't It Something" (1994) - Stuart Little (1999) - Song Performer "Walking Tall"
- Mumford (1999) - Song Performer "Ballad of the Snow Leopard and The Tanqueray Cowboy", "Till It Shines"
- Clay Pigeons (1998) - Song Performer "Teach Me About Love"
- Hope Floats (1998) - Song Performer "Smile"
- The Apostle (1997) - Song Performer "(I'm a) Soldier in the Army of the Lord"
- Toy Story (1995) - Song Performer "You've Got a Friend in Me" with Randy Newman as the lead vocals.
- Quiz Show (1994) - Song Performer "Moritat" by Kurt Weill
- With Honors (1994) - Song Performer "Blue Skies"
- Major League II (1994) - Song Performer and composer "All My Love Is Gone"
- The Firm (1993) - Song Performer "M-O-N-E-Y"
- Leap of Faith (1992) - Song Performer "Pass Me Not"
- The Crying Game (1992) - Song Performer "Stand By Your Man"
- Major League (1989) - Song Performer "Cryin' Shame"
- Always (1989) - Song Performer "Cowboy Man"
Actor
- The Open Road (2008) - TBA
- Brothers and Sisters (TV Series) (2007) - Something New - Himself
- The New Guy (2002) - Bear Harrison
- Three Days of Rain (2002) - Disc Jockey
- Dharma and Greg (TV series) - The Trouble With Troubadours (2000) - Himself
- Mad About You (TV series) - The Final Frontier (1999) - Lenny
- Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular (TV series) - Episode #1.23 (1999)
- Cookie's Fortune (1999) - Manny Hood
- The Opposite of Sex (1998) - Sheriff Carl Tippett
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - Road Person
- Breast Men (1997) - Research Scientist
- Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) - Wade
- Mad About You (TV series) - Mad About You: Part 1 (1995) - Lenny
- Mad About You (TV series) - Mad About You: Part 2 (1995) - Lenny
- Prêt-à-Porter (1994) - Clint Lammeraux
- Short Cuts (1993) - Andy Bitkower
- The Player (1992) - Detective DeLongpre
- Bill: On His Own (1983 TV movie) - Singer at Beach