Bobby Braddock

One of the contemporary legends of Nashville’s songwriting community, Bobby Braddock has been writing No. 1 country hits for over 40 years. His songwriting credits include George Jones’ classic “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” Jones and Tammy Wynette’s “Golden Ring,” Wynette‘s “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” Toby Keith’s “I Wanna Talk About Me,” Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy” and Tracy Lawrence‘s “Texas Tornado” and “Time Marches On.” Other artists who have recorded Braddock songs include Willie Nelson, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Lee Lewis, T. G. Sheppard, John Conlee, Tanya Tucker, Waylon Jennings, John Anderson and the Statler Brothers.

Born Robert Valentine Braddock in Lakeland, Florida on August 5, 1940, Bobby Braddock is one of country music’s most successful songwriters. He grew up in Florida, and after traveling throughout the South as a rock ‘n’ roll musician, he settled in Nashville and became a songwriter in the mid-1960s. His first cover hit came in 1966 with “While You’re Dancing,” which was cut by Marty Robbins—in whose road band Braddock played piano in 1965. He then replaced Roger Miller on the songwriting staff of Tree International Publishing, and his achievements since then are staggering and include his 2011 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and his 1981 induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Also in 1981, Braddock won the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and Nashville Songwriters Association’s Song of the Year award for George Jones’ hit “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” which he co-wrote with Curly Putman. The song also won the Country Music Association Song of the Year award in both 1980 and 1981, and was later voted Country Song of the Century in a poll by Radio & Records magazine and Best Country Song of All Time in one conducted by the BBC and Country America magazine. Also in 1981 Braddock was named Music City News Songwriter of the Year.

In 2011, Braddock received the BMI Icon Award, and in 2012 he received the ACM Poet’s Award. He has received six CMA Song of the Year nominations, winning twice. He has received a total of 30 BMI airplay awards, and nine BMI Million Air awards for songs that received at least one million performances each. He has maintained the longest consecutive songwriter publishing deal ever--over 40 years—and is the only living songwriter to write at least one Billboard country chart-topper in every decade for five decades running. His memoir titled Bobby Braddock: A Life On Nashville's Music Row was released in October 2015.