Steve Earle
Singer-Songwriter
Outlaw Country
Steve Earle is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist whose 1986 debut Guitar Town helped define the Americana genre, bridging country, rock, and folk through hard-edged storytelling. For bluegrass listeners he is best known for The Mountain, the all-bluegrass album he made with the Del McCoury Band.
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- Born January 17, 1955, in Fort Monroe, Virginia, and raised near San Antonio, Texas.
- Debut album Guitar Town (1986, MCA) topped the country chart and is now regarded as an Americana cornerstone.
- The Mountain (1999), his first fully bluegrass album, was recorded with the Del McCoury Band as a tribute to Bill Monroe; Earle wrote all 14 songs.
- Won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album for The Revolution Starts Now (2005 ceremony).
- Won a second Grammy for Washington Square Serenade (2008 ceremony).
- Won a third Grammy for Townes (2010 ceremony), a tribute to his friend and mentor Townes Van Zandt.
- Acted in HBO's The Wire and Treme.
- His son was the late singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle (1982–2020).