Donny Kees

Donny Kees is an American songwriter and musician. Kees has written songs for numerous artists and charted several singles on the Billboard country charts. Since 1984, Kees has continued to write hit songs for other artists, most notably George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, George Jones, Conway Twitty, Joe Nichols, Bryan White and Diamond Rio.

Early life Kees was born in Carbondale, West Virginia, The family soon moved to Chesapeake, West Virginia, where Kees grew up. His father, an insurance salesman, musician and blues singer, influenced Kees' to pursue a career in music. After high school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force while attending University of Maryland and served in the Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968.

Career During the 1970's, Kees continued to perform and write music. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1984 after scoring cuts for Conway Twitty and others to pursue a career in songwriting, eventually signing a publishing deal with Acuff/Rose and an artist deal with 16th Avenue Records. Kees has had 3 number one singles on Billboard Country Charts and R&R charts along with five Top 10 singles. In 1993, Kees' song "When Did You Stop Loving Me" from the Pure Country soundtrack by George Strait was nominated by the Music City News Songwriter Awards as a Top Ten Song of the Year. The song was later used in a nationwide ad campaign for Nissan. In 1997, he received a Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Achievement Award for his work on the number one hit, I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore, along with Skip Ewing and Bryan White and again in 2003 for I Believe, another with Skip Ewing, the latter also winning a BMI award in 2004. The 2002 song Brokenheartsville for singer Joe Nichols was Kees' first number one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Kees soon followed that up with I Believe" by Diamond Rio. The song spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and also charted in the top 40 of Billboard Hot 100. The song has also been used in music therapy practices to help people deal with grief and loss.

Awards and nominations BMI 1994 - When Did You Stop Loving Me 1997 - I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore 1999 - If I Never Stop Loving You (song) 2003 - Brokenheartsville 2004 - I Believe (Diamond Rio song)

Nashville Songwriters Achievement Award 1997 - I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore Charley Pride 1990 Searchin' for Some Kind of Clue 17 Billy Joe Royal 1993 When Did You Stop Loving Me 6 George Strait 1994 Whole Lotta Love on the Line 30 Aaron Tippin 1996 I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore 4 Bryan White 1997 "Connected at the Heart" 44 Ricochet 1997 There's Only You 43 Kevin Sharp 1997 The Used to Be's 48 Daryle Singletary 1998 If I Never Stop Loving You 3 David Kersh 2002 Brokenheartsville 1 "Love's Last Stand" Tommy Riggs, James Troy Pickard (Jimmy Jay) Doug Stone "How Do I Get Off the Moon" Randy Boudreaux, Kerry Kurt Phillips Eddy Raven "Neon Row" James Troy Pickard (Jimmy Jay) Eddy Raven "Stay with Me" Ricky Ray Rector George Jones "I've Still Got Some Hurtin' Left to Do" Richard Ross George Jones "When Did You Stop Loving Me" Monty Holmes George Jones & Tammy Wynette "Whatever Happened to Us" Don Sampson George Strait "She Took the Wind From His Sails" Dean Dillon George Strait "When Did You Stop Loving Me" Monty Holmes George Strait "If It's Gonna Rain" Dean Dillon, Scotty Emerick George Strait "Down Louisiana Way" Aaron Barker, Sanger D Shafer George Strait "Neon Row" James Troy Pickard (Jimmy Jay) George Strait "When Love Comes Around Again Monty Holmes, Jeff Silvey George Strait "I'll Always Be Loving You" Aaron Barker, Sanger D Shafer Joe Nichols "Brokenheartsville" Blake Mevis, Randy Boudreaux, Clint Daniels John Michael Montgomery "What I Do the Best" Michael Huffman, Monty Holmes Johnny Rodriguez "Maxine" James Troy Pickard (Jimmy Jay) Keith Harling "Over You" Skip Ewing Kenny Chesney "Somebody's Callin' " Kenny Chesney Kenny Chesney "I Finally Found Somebody" Kenny Chesney Kenny Chesney "In My Wildest Dreams" Aaron Tippin Kenny Chesney "I'd Love to Change Your Name" Jim Weatherly, Kenny Chesney Kenny Chesney "You Win, I Win, We Lose" Buddy Brock, Kenny Chesney Kenny Chesney "Lonely, Needin' Lovin' " Buddy Brock, Kenny Chesney Kevin Sharp "There's Only You" Skip Ewing Lane Brody "Till You Found Me" Jim Weatherly Lee Anne Womack "Thinkin' with My Heart Again" Sanger D. Shafer, Dean Dillon Lorrie Morgan "Back Among the Living" Skip Ewing Mark Wills "Help Me Fall" Skip Ewing Mark Wills "Back on Earth" Skip Ewing Neal McCoy "Why Not Tonight" James Troy Pickard (Jimmy Jay), Richard Ross Oleta Adams "I Knew You When" Shawna Harrington-Burkhart Randy Travis "Ants on a Log" Skip Ewing Randy Travis "Once In a Heart Like Mine" Skip Ewing Reba McEntire "He's In Dallas" Richard Ross, Johnny MacRae Reba McEntire "Now You Tell Me" Shawna Harrington-Burkhart Ricochet "Connected at the Heart" Skip Ewing Ricky Van Shelton "Love Is Burnin' " Frank J. Myers Sammy Kershaw "What Might Have Been" Dean Dillion Sammy Kershaw "If You Ever Come This Way Again" Dean Dillion Tammy Wynette "What Do They Know" Richard Ross Tanya Tucker "What Do They Know" Richard Ross Travis Tritt "It's All About the Money" Jody Harris Ty Herndon "Thinkin' with My Heart Again" Sanger D. Shafer, Dean Dillon Zac Brown "Grandma's Garden" Skip Ewing