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| Legendary songwriter, producer, and singer, Norro Wilson, passed away Thursday at the age of 79. Photo by Jessica Bray, Kentucky Country Music. |
Kentucky native, Norro Wilson, made a major impact on
Music Row and in the Nashville community.
Sadly, he passed away at the age of 79 years old on Thursday, June 8,
2017. His accomplishments and versatile
abilities led him to be a distinguished member of the music community.
Coming from Scottsville, Kentucky, Norris
"Norro" Wilson, would attend Wester Kentucky State College (now
Western Kentucky University). He earned
a vocal scholarship and later moved just outside of Nashville when he joined
the Southlanders gospel quartet. In the
late 1950s, he sang harmony for Ferlin Husky and Faron Young From songwriting
to song plugging, he always had a pulse on the sound created in Music City.
Some of the songwriting co-writes of Norro Wilson include
hit songs for George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Tanya Tucker, Charlie Rich, Lorrie
Morgan, and many more. Some of those
hits include the following:
Delta Dawn
Baby, Baby (I Know You're a Lady)
A Very Special Love Song
The Grand Tour
The Most Beautiful Girl
A Picture of Me (Without You)
The Door
The Battle
He Loves Me All the Way
Another Lonely Song
For a few years near 1970, Norro Wilson pursued a solo
recording artist career. He was chosen
for the Country Radio Seminar’s inaugural “New Faces of Country Music.” In
1970, his recording of "Do It to Someone You Love" peaked at No.
20. It was written by fellow Kentuckian,
Tom T. Hall. Wilson won a best country
song Grammy for "A Very Special Love Song," and in three consecutive
years he won BMI's Country Songwriter of the Year award.
Norro Wilson co-produced many albums along the way with
Buddy Cannon, paving the path for relatively newcomers into the universe of
stardom and fame. Among those include
Shania Twain's debut album, Keith Whitley, John Anderson, John Michael
Montgomery, Kenny Chesney, Chely Wright, Charley Pride, Sammy Kershaw, George
Jones, Tammy Wynette, Sara Evans, Reba McEntire, and many more.
In 1984, while working at RCA Records, he signed fellow
Kentucky native, Keith Whitley, and produced his ep "A Hard Act to
Follow."
In 1996, Norro Wilson was inducted into the Nashville
Songwriters Hall of Fame. Wilson has won
39 awards from BMI, including five One Million Performance awards. He also became a member of Western Kentucky
University's Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
In 2008, he was inducted into the prestigious Kentucky Music Hall of
Fame. Inside their museum, there is a
large exhibit featuring the works of Norro Wilson inside.
