George Hamilton IV

George Hamilton IV (born July 19, 1937, Winston-Salem ^{Winston-Salem, North Carolina} , North Carolina) is an American ^{United States} country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, later switching to pop ^{pop music} -country and folk music.

  On June 18, 1956, while a 19-year-old student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hamilton recorded ^{sound recording and reproduction} "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" for Chapel Hill ^{Chapel Hill, North Carolina} record label, Colonial Records. The song, written ^songwriter by John D. Loudermilk, climbed to number 6 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart ^{record chart} . By 1960, "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" had attained gold record ^{music recording sales certification} status for ABC-Paramount ^{ABC Records} (which had acquired the song from Colonial ^{Colonial Records} ). The B-side ^{A-side and B-side} of the record ^{gramophone record} , "If You Don't Know", revealed Hamilton's ambitions to be a country singer. In late 1959, Hamilton moved his family to Nashville ^{Nashville, Tennessee} , Tennessee to further his work as a country musician. On February 8, 1960, Hamilton officially became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Later that same year, he began recording for RCA Records, having been signed by Chet Atkins.

Hamilton's breakthrough hit was the 1961 song "Before This Day Ends". His biggest hit came two years later with "Abilene ^{Abilene (song)} ", another song penned by Loudermilk. The song spent four weeks in the number 1 spot on Billboard ^{Billboard (magazine)} 's country singles chart and reached the Top 20 of the Hot 100. The success of "Abilene" was followed with the song "Fort Worth, Dallas Or Houston" (a Top 5 ^{Top 40} hit in late 1964).

By the mid-1960s, Hamilton's music began showing a decidedly folk ^{folk music} influence. This was especially evident with 1966's "Steel Rail Blues" and "Early Morning Rain" (both by Gordon Lightfoot), and 1967's "Urge For Going." Another 1967 hit was "Break My Mind." One more George Hamilton IV song of this genre was a moderate hit in 1969—the Ray Griff penned "Canadian Pacific". His last Top 5 single came in 1970, with "She's A Little Bit Country".

After his American chart success declined in the early 1970s, Hamilton began touring the world, across the Soviet Union, Australia, the Middle East and East Asia. These widely-acclaimed international performances earned Hamilton the nickname 'The International Ambassador of Country Music'. He also hosted several successful television programs in the UK ^{United Kingdom} and Canada during the 1970s, and in the 1990s he played himself in the West End ^{West End theatre} musical ^{musical theatre} , Patsy, based on the life of Patsy Cline.

Hamilton is still a regular at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and in country shows throughout the U.S. and the UK. He mainly concentrates on gospel tours both at home and abroad. In 2007 he collaborated with Live Issue, a group from Northern Ireland, to record a live album based on the life of Joseph Scriven, who wrote the hymn, "What A Friend We Have in Jesus". The two also toured together again in 2009.
Albums




Singles


*^A"Abilene" also peaked at #4 on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.
*^B"Canadian Pacific" also peaked at #9 on the RPM ^{RPM (magazine)} Top Singles chart in Canada.


Guest singles




B-Sides