Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. He became one of the first crossover country artists, appealing to both country and pop music audiences.
Milsap was born in Robbinsville, North Carolina, into a poor family, the son of an insurance salesman and a homemaker. He had four brothers and sisters. His father left the family when Milsap was a year old, and he was raised by his mother and grandparents in rural poverty. When he was seven years old, his grandfather taught him how to play the piano; soon afterwards, he began to perform at local churches.
Milsap's grandmother died when he was nine, and his grandfather soon remarried. Milsap did not get along with his step-grandmother, and he began to run away from home. At the age of thirteen, he ran away for the final time; he hitchhiked to Nashville, Tennessee, where he hoped to find a job in the country music industry.
Milsap was unable to find work in Nashville, and he began to play the piano in local clubs and bars. He soon developed a following among the city's African-American population. In 1966, Milsap signed with Atlantic Records, and his first single, "Total Disaster," was released that year. His early singles were not successful, but he soon had a hit with "Never Had It So Good (Since I Found You)."
Milsap's first album, Ronnie Milsap, was released in 1971. The album's lead single, "I Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World," became a number-one hit on the country charts. Milsap's next album, 1972's Into My Heart, was also successful; its lead single, "Pure Love," reached the top of the country charts.
Then Sings My Soul, a two-CD compilation by Milsap that included "Up To Zion" and 24 other hymns and gospel tunes, was published in 2009. Gregory James Tornquist and Noreen Crayton wrote "Up To Zion," which peaked at No. 1 on the southern gospel charts. He participated in a Gaither Video Taping on May 12, 2010.
In 2013, Milsap was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He continues to tour and perform; his most recent album, Summer Number Seventeen, was released in 2016.
Milsap has won six Grammy Awards and numerous other awards throughout his career. He has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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