Bob DiPiero

Induction Year: 2007

Birth Name: Robert John DiPiero

Birth Date: 03-03-1951

Place of Birth: Youngstown, Ohio

Bob DiPiero has been one of country music's most consistently successful songwriters from the 1980s to the present. He joined his first rock band at age 14 and put himself through college by continuing to play in rock & roll groups. One of his bands, Joy, recorded an LP in Shreveport, Louisiana, for Paula Records in 1971. After graduation from Youngstown State University, he wrote local ad jingles and bartered studio time to record tapes of his songs to take with him on his trips to Nashville.

He moved to Nashville on Halloween Night in 1978. During his first five years in town, he made a living as a guitar instructor. One of his students kept bringing him the classic country songs of Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb and Hank Snow. As a result, the former rocker became a country convert. In the meantime, he got a writer's contract from a song publisher, and country stars began recording his tunes in 1980.

When the Oak Ridge Boys took his "American Made" to #1 on the country chart in 1983, and the song subsequently became a lucrative national Miller Beer ad jingle, DiPiero was able to quit his guitar instructor job.

In the years 1989-1991, he was a member of the country group Billy Hill alongside fellow songwriters John Scott Sherrill and Dennis Robbins. The group's rocking brand of country was typified by "Too Much Month (At the End of the Money)" and "I Am Just a Rebel," both co-written by DiPiero.

Since then, DiPiero has become one of the most consistent and prolific hit songwriters on Music Row. He placed songs on the charts every year between 1988 and 2010. In 1995, he earned a Triple Play award from the Country Music Association for writing three #1 hits in a year, "Wink" (Neal McCoy), "Take Me as I Am" (Faith Hill) and "Till You Love Me" (Reba McEntire). He repeated the feat in 1996 and was honored by the CMA for "Blue Clear Sky" (George Strait), "Daddy's Money" (Ricochet) and "Worlds Apart" (Vince Gill).

In 2010, "Coming Home," his song from the film Country Strong, was nominated for an Academy Award. In 2012, he placed three songs on the first soundtrack release from the ABC-TV series Nashville.

As a performer, Bob DiPiero is noted for the wit and élan of his personal appearances. He has marketed a series of solo albums via his Web site.

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Song Catalog

 

"(Do You Love Me) Just Say Yes"

(written with Dennis Robbins, John Scott Sherrill)

Highway 1011988 #1 country

"American Made"

(written with Pat McManus)

The Oak Ridge Boys1983 #1 country, #72 pop

"Blue Clear Sky"

(written with Mark Sanders, John Jarrard)

George Strait1996 #1 country
 

"Cleopatra, Queen of Denial"

(written with Pam Tillis, Jan Buckingham)

Pam Tillis1993 #11 country
 

"Cowboys Like Us"

(written with Anthony Smith)

George Strait2003 #2 country, #38 pop
 

"Daddy's Money"

(written with Mark Sanders, Steve Seskin)

Ricochet1996 #1 country
 

"From a Table Away"

(written with Karyn Rochelle, Sunny Sweeney)

Sunny Sweeney2010 #10 country, #71 pop
 

"Gone"

(written with Jeffrey Steele)

Montgomery Gentry2004 #3 country, #53 pop
Scotty McCreery2011 
 

"I Can See Forever in Your Eyes"

Reba McEntire1980 #18 country
 

"If You Ever Stop Loving Me"

(written with Rivers Rutherford, Tom Shapiro)

Montgomery Gentry2004 #1 country, #30 pop
 

"It's Lonely Out There"

(written with Pam Tillis)

Pam Tillis1996 #14 country
 

"Little Rock"

(written with Gerry House, Pat McManus)

Reba McEntire1986 #1 country
 

"Lovin' You Is Fun"

(written with Jim Beavers)

Easton Corbin2012 #3 country, #57 pop
 

"Mirror, Mirror"

(written with Mark Sanders, John Jarrard)

Diamond Rio1991 #3 country
 

"Money in the Bank"

(written with Mark Sanders, John Jarrard)

John Anderson1993 #1 country
 

"Old Weakness (Comin' on Strong)"

(written with Gary Nicholson)

Patty Loveless1994 
Delbert McClinton1997 
Tanya Tucker2003 #49 country
Etta James2003 
Wanda Jackson2012 
 

"Sentimental Ol' You"

(written with Pat McManus)

Charly McClain1984 #3 country
 

"She Don't Tell Me To"

(written with Rivers Rutherford, Tom Shapiro)

Montgomery Gentry2005 #5 country, #62 pop
 

"Should've Asked Her Faster"

(written with Al Anderson, Joe Klemik)

Ty England1995 #3 country
 

"Southern Voice"

(written with Tom Douglas)

Tim McGraw2009 #1 country, #71 pop

"Take Me as I Am"

(written with Karen Staley)

Faith Hill1994 #2 country

"That Rock Won't Roll"

(written with John Scott Sherrill)

Restless Heart1986 #1 country
 

"The Church on Cumberland Road"

(written with Dennis Robbins, John Scott Sherrill)

Shenandoah1989 #1 country
 

"There You Are"

(written with Ed Hill, Mark Sanders)

Martina McBride2000 #10 country, #60 pop
 

"They're Playing Our Song"

(written with Mark Sanders, John Jarrard)

Neal McCoy1995 #3 country
 

"Till You Love Me"

(written with Gary Burr)

Reba McEntire1994 #2 country, #78 pop
 

"Walkin' Away a Winner"

(written with Tom Shapiro)

Kathy Mattea1994 #3 country

"Wink"

(written with Tom Shapiro)

Neal McCoy1994 #1 country, #91 pop
 

"Worlds Apart"

(written with Vince Gill)

Vince Gill1996 #5 country
 

"You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl"

(written with Bart Allmand)

Brooks & Dunn2004 #3 country, #39 pop

Other Media

Bob DiPiero

Induction Year: 2007