Steve Earle Biography

Singer-songwriter Steve Earle was born in 1955 in Virginia but grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Long before Earle rose to prominence as one of the industry’s most notable writers and performers, he began studying guitar as a child and by the time he was a teenager, his talents were evident. Earle left school at the age of sixteen and moved first to Houston, and then to Nashville in 1974.

While in Nashville, Steve began writing songs and playing guitar in a variety of bands, most notably Guy Clark’s band. He eventually garnered a deal with a local publishing company, with which he worked for a few years, until he returned to Texas to start his own band. For the remainder of the decade, Steve Earle performed with The Dukes, until in the early 80’s he returned to Nashville as a songwriter again, scoring his first hit with the single “When You Fall in Love,” recorded by Johnny Lee. In 1982, Earle released his own EP, Pink & Black, which garnered the attention of MCA Records, earning him a multi-album deal.

Steve Earle’s debut album, Guitar Town, arrived in 1986 and was an enormous success, rising to the top of the charts and spawning the top-ten hit “Goodbye’s All We’ve Got Left.” For the next two decades and well into the new millennium, Earle gave audiences a number of chart-topping country albums, including: Copperhead Road (1988), Transcendental Blues (2000), Jerusalem (2002), Townes (2009), and I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive (2011.)

In the last decade, Steve Earle has become equally well known for his work in film, providing songs for some of the era’s most notable movies. Earle’s music can be heard in the films: Dead Man Walking (1995, “Ellis Unit One”); The Horse Whisperer (1988, “Me and the Eagle”), The Wire (2004, “I Feel Alright”); Brokeback Mountain (2005, “Devil’s Right Hand”); Talladega Nights (2006, “Valentine’s Day,” “Hard-Core Troubadour,” and “I Feel Alright”); and Friday Night Lights (2009, “Goodbye.”)

For his work, Steve Earle has earned fourteen Grammy nominations so far, with three wins for Best Contemporary Folk Album (in 2005, 2008, and 2010.) In addition, Earle has an Emmy nomination for his work on the television series Treme.