11. Eddie Rabbitt

Eddie was deep into music very early. He was proficient on the guitar by 12, and was considered a “walking encyclopedia of country music” as a child. Once he was an adult he moved to Nashville, where he worked as a truck driver, soda jerk, fruit picker, but most importantly: a songwriter. Eddie ended up writing songs for George Morgan, Tom Jones and Elvis Presley, but it was a number one song he wrote for Ronnie Milsap that eventually got him his own recording contract. Starting off in his radio career, he had a distinctly traditional country sound to his songs. Then as he made his way into the 80’s, his songs got increasingly pop-sounding in ways that challenged what was commonly thought of as country music. Although this turned off some traditionalists, the move to pop sounds increased his audience and allowed him a long stretch of huge smash songs. Like a lot of other 1980’s country artists, Eddie got quickly faded from radio in the early 1990’s by a new class of singers coming in. Today, his songs are thought of as fun country-pop fluff, but no one seems to remember just how creative and innovative Eddie Rabbitt was at the time. Even though he passed away too early from lung cancer in 1998, his catalogue of songs should eventually earn him a place in the Hall Of Fame.