Royal appeared on his uncle’s radio show in his hometown of Valdosta, Ga., at the age of eleven.īy fourteen, Royal became a regular on the Friday night Atlanta-based radio show, “Georgia Jubilee,” with the likes of Ray Stevens, Jerry Reed, Joe South, Freddy Weller and various Grand Ole Opry stars. You’d get a country thing during the afternoon, then black gospel until sundown and at night you’d get rhythm and blues. And the local radio stations would play three or four different formats a day. “My uncle had a band, my grandmother played, my whole family played. ”I was really lucky to always be around music as a kid,” Royal says. Royal grew up in a musical family and listened to a variety of styles on the Georgia radio stations. ”I never thought I was going to have another hit record,” says Royal, who will perform at the Little Nashville Opry in Nashville, Indiana, on Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. He died in his sleep at age 73 at his home in North Carolina on October 6, 2015.Billy Joe Royal at Little Nashville Opry March 20īy Tamela Meredith Partridge When Billy Joe Royal recorded the 1965 debut pop hit, “Down In The Boondocks,” the Georgia singer/songwriter had no idea he’d top the country charts twenty years later with the 1985 smash, “Burn Like A Rocket.” Moreover, Royal continued to perform on stage in country bars all over the South. His signature tune "Down in the Boondocks" is featured on the soundtracks for the films "Glory Road" and "Riding in Cars with Boys." Among the albums Billy Joe recorded were "Stay Close to Home," "Now and Then, Then and Now," and "His First Gospel Album," which was his last album. Royal acted in the Shakespearean rock opera "Catch My Soul," made an uncredited appearance singing the folk ballad "Mountain Woman" in the bizarre horror picture "A Name for Evil," and narrated the groovy rock documentary "Mondo Daytona." He also acted in several TV commercials. Billy Joe bounced back in the 1980's as a country singer the songs "Burned Like a Rocket," "I'll Pin a Note on Your Pillow," and "Tell It Like It Is" were all top 10 country chart hits. When Royal's career faltered in the late 1970's, he became a regular performer in both Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. The follow-up songs "I Knew You When," "I've Got To Be Somebody," and "Cherry Hill Park" all likewise cracked the Billboard top 40. Billy Joe scored a massive top 10 hit in 1965 with "Down in the Boondocks," which peaked at #9 and turned Royal into a teen idol for a short spell. Royal recorded a single in 1962 that flopped. In addition, Billy Joe was a local singing sensation at the Bamboo Ranch in Savannah, Georgia in the 1950's and early 1960's. He fronted his own rock band at age sixteen which performed around Atlanta. At age fourteen Royal learned how to play the steel guitar and joined the Georgia Jubilee. Billy Joe made his public debut at age five in a first-grade performance for the PTA and sang on his uncle's radio show at age eleven. Royal hailed from a family of musical entertainers. He was born on Apin Valdosta, Georgia and raised in Marietta, Georgia. Singer Billy Joe Royal enjoyed a successful musical career which spanned over forty years and encompassed the pop, rock, and country music genres.
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