Van Stephenson

Van Stephenson was an American singer and songwriter. He scored two top ten hits in the 1980s and became a member of country trio Blackhawk in the 1990s.

Biography

Stephenson was born in Ohio but moved to Nashville when he was ten years old, and played in garage bands as a teenager. He graduated from seminary school and wrote songs on the side in the 1970s; his first chart hit as a songwriter was for Crystal Gale, who cracked the US country Top Ten with his "Your Kisses Will" in 1979. Stephenson went on to write hits for Kenny Rogers, Dan Seals, Janie Fricke, and John Anderson. Partnering with Dave Robbins, Stephenson wrote a string of hits for Restless Heart, and would continue to work with Robbins later in his career.

Stephenson landed a recording contract of his own, and his debut album, Righteous Anger, was released in 1984. He scored big on the Billboard charts with "Modern Day Delilah", peaking at #22, and a second hit, "What the Big Girls Do", peaked at #45. Righteous Anger charted at #54 on the Billboard 200, but his follow-up 1986 disc, Suspicious Heart, did not chart, nor did its lead single, "We're Doing Alright". Stephenson returned to songwriting duties until the early 1990s, when he became one-third of Blackhawk, a massively successful country group, through the end of the decade. In 2000, Stephenson left the group after being diagnosed with skin cancer, and he died in April of 2001 as a result of the disease.

Reference

Van Stephenson at Allmusic.com