Don Schlitz
Donald Allen Schlitz Jr. (born August 29, 1952) is an American songwriter who has written more than a score of number one hits on the country music charts. He is best known for his song "The Gambler" (Kenny Rogers), and as the co-writer of "Forever and Ever, Amen" (Randy Travis), and "When You Say Nothing at All" (Keith Whitley and Alison Krauss & Union Station). For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammy Awards, and four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards.
Don Schlitz
Donald Alan Schlitz Jr.[1]
August 29, 1952
Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Singer-songwriter
Harmonica, guitar, bass, vocals
1978–present
Schlitz has been inducted in to four different halls of fame: the national Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame,[2] and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. On August 30, 2022, he was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.[3][4]
Songwriting career[edit]
Schlitz' first hit as a songwriter was Kenny Rogers's "The Gambler", which became a crossover country hit upon its release in 1978, later becoming one of Rogers's signature songs.[5] In 2018, the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".[6] Since then, Schlitz has written numerous country songs and penned several hits for other country artists. Among his biggest hits are two Number One songs which he co-wrote with Paul Overstreet, "Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis and "When You Say Nothing at All" by Keith Whitley. He has 24 number 1 hits on the Country Charts.[7]
United States President George H. W. Bush also commissioned Schlitz to write a theme song for his "Points of Light" program.[5] This song, "Point of Light", was a No. 3 country hit for Randy Travis in 1991.
Schlitz also worked with Kenny Rogers again in 1998. Rogers joked at the time that "every 20 years I will record a Don Schlitz song". The result was a baseball-themed hit single called "The Greatest". Rogers also recorded several more of his songs in 2013 for his best-selling You Can't Make Old Friends album.
Musicals[edit]
He composed the music for the musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Recordings[edit]
In addition to writing hit singles for other artists, Schlitz has recorded three albums of his own. The first, titled Dreamers' Matinee, was released in 1980 on Capitol Records. A live compilation, titled Live at the Bluebird Café, was released in 2001. In 2010, Schlitz released another studio album of new material, Allergic to Crazy.
Singles written or co-written by Don Schlitz include the following. Asterisks denote songs which reached Number One on the U.S. Billboard country charts.