Nashville, TN · country

Lonestar

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'Amazed' still owns every 90s-country playlist — Texas-formed hitmakers of the format's crossover era.

Lonestar began in Nashville in 1992 under the name Texassee, a nod to the fact that all five original members were Texas natives who had met while working at the Opryland USA theme park in Tennessee. The lineup included Michael Britt, Dean Sams, Keech Rainwater, singer Richie McDonald and bassist John Rich; the band shortened its name to Lonestar soon after, signing to BNA Records in 1995.

Lonestar's first two albums leaned on honky-tonk and neotraditional country before the group moved toward the country-pop sound that carried its commercial run: arena-scaled ballads set against uptempo country-rock, built for radio play through the mid- and late 1990s.

The band placed more than twenty singles on the country charts, nine of them at number one, including 'No News', 'Come Cryin' to Me', 'Smile', 'What About Now', 'Tell Her', 'I'm Already There', 'My Front Porch Looking In' and 'Mr. Mom', alongside 'Amazed'. When 'Amazed' topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1999, it was the first country song to do so since 'Islands in the Stream' in 1983.

John Rich was fired from the band in 1998 and went on to form Big & Rich with Big Kenny. Richie McDonald left the band twice for a solo career, first in 2007, replaced briefly by Cody Collins before returning in 2011, then again in 2021, when Drew Womack, formerly of Sons of the Desert, took over lead vocals; the band continues to tour and record under this lineup.

The group recorded seven studio albums for BNA Records along with a greatest-hits collection, and further albums for independent labels afterward. Three of its records have been certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America.

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