Chris LeDoux

Christopher Lee LeDoux (October 2, 1948 – March 9, 2005) was an American country music singer-songwriter, bronze sculptor, and hall of fame rodeo champion. During his career, LeDoux recorded 36 albums (many self-released), which have sold more than six million units in the United States as of January 2007. He was awarded two gold and one platinum album certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), was nominated for a Grammy Award, and was honored with the Academy of Country Music Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award. LeDoux is also the only person to participate and also perform at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Biography

Early years Christopher Lee LeDoux was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, on October 2, 1948 to Bonnie (née Gingrich; 1927–2022) and Alfred LeDoux (1923–1995). He was of French descent on his father's side. His father was in the US Air Force and was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base at the time of his birth. The family moved often when he was a child, due to his father's Air Force career. He learned to ride horses while visiting his grandparents on their Wyoming farm.

LeDoux continued to compete in rodeo events and played football through his high-school years. When his family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, he attended Cheyenne Central High School. After twice winning the Wyoming State Rodeo Championship bareback riding title during high school, LeDoux earned a rodeo scholarship to Casper College in Casper. During his junior year at Eastern New Mexico University, LeDoux won the Intercollegiate National bareback bronc riding championship.

LeDoux married Peggy Rhoads on January 4, 1972. They had five children: Clay, Ned, Will, Beau, and Cindy.

Rodeo success and music beginnings In 1970, LeDoux became a professional rodeo cowboy on the national circuit. LeDoux continued competing for the next four years. He retired in 1980. LeDoux and Brooks also received nominations from the Academy of Country Music for Vocal Duo of the Year and from the TNN/Music City News Country Awards for Vocal Collaboration of the Year.

For the next decade, LeDoux continued to record for Liberty. He released six additional records, including One Road Man, which made the country top 40 in 1998. After his recovery, he released two additional albums. In November 2004, LeDoux was diagnosed with bile duct cancer, for which he underwent radiation treatment until his death. His funeral was held on March 11.

Tributes Shortly after his death, LeDoux was named as one of six former rodeo cowboys to be inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2005. He was the first person to be inducted in two categories, for his bareback riding and in the "notables" category "for his contributions to the sport through his music".

In 2004, the Academy of Country Music awarded LeDoux their Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award during ceremonies. In 2005, Garth Brooks accepted the award on behalf of LeDoux's family.

In late 2005, Brooks briefly emerged from retirement to record "Good Ride Cowboy" as a tribute to LeDoux. Brooks remarked: "I knew if I ever recorded any kind of tribute to Chris, it would have to be up-tempo, happy ... a song like him ... not some slow, mournful song. He wasn't like that. Chris was exactly as our heroes are supposed to be. He was a man's man. A good friend."

Garth Brooks performed the song on the 39th Annual CMA Awards on November 15, 2005, live from Times Square in New York City. Later that evening, LeDoux was honored with the CMA Chairman's Award of Merit, presented by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, to LeDoux's family.

Friends have also collaborated to produce an annual rodeo, art show, and concert in Casper, Wyoming to honor LeDoux's memory. The art show features sculpture and sketches that LeDoux completed for friends; none of his works were ever officially exhibited before his death. However, LeDoux did have two pieces of sculpture that won awards while he was alive; it was more than just a hobby.

To mark the second anniversary of LeDoux's death, in April 2007, Capitol Records released six CDs featuring remastered versions of 12 of the albums he recorded between 1974 and 1993.

Artist and sculptor D. Michael Thomas created a one-and-a-half times life-size sculpture of Chris LeDoux during his 1976 World Championship ride on Stormy Weather. The statue, called "Good Ride Cowboy", is on display at the Chris LeDoux Memorial Park in his hometown of Kaycee, Wyoming.

Son Beau LeDoux, himself a rodeo competitor, on July 24, 2007, spread his father's ashes over Frontier Park Arena during the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo.

The city in which LeDoux attended college, Casper, Wyoming, celebrates LeDoux each November with the Chris LeDoux Memorial Rodeo, a weekend event that includes an art show featuring a number of LeDoux's works, a PRCA rodeo, and a country music concert.

In 2010, Robert Royston created One Ride, a music and dance production that tells the story of the rodeo cowboy.

In 2010, country singer Luke Kaufman paid tribute to LeDoux in his song Broncin''' from the album Cowboy Baller, "Soakin' up tapes of Chris LeDoux".In 2011, country music artist Brantley Gilbert paid tribute to LeDoux in his single "Country Must Be Country Wide", with the line "From his Wranglers to his boots – he reminded me of Chris LeDoux".

In 2021, a bronze statue of LeDoux was placed at Cheyenne Frontier Days in Frontier Park in his honor. It is a large statue sculpted by Buffalo sculptor D. Michael Thomas. It is titled Just LeDoux It. It was unveiled at the opening of Frontier Days, during the celebration of its 125th anniversary. The statue displays LeDoux on a bucking bronc, and also depicts a guitar. Fellow musical artist Garth Brooks and Chris's son Ned LeDoux attended the unveiling.

From 2011 thru 2025, the town of Kaycee, Wyoming hosted Chris LeDoux Days, a festival held along Nolan Avenue featuring a rodeo and live music performances headlined by Chris's son, Ned.

Rodeo honors

Rodeo career milestones

Discography

Awards and nominations