Neal McCoy

Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. (born July 30, 1958), known professionally as Neal McCoy and previously as Neal McGoy, is an American country music singer. He has released 10 studio albums on various labels, and has released 34 singles to country radio. Although he first charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1988, he did not reach the top 40 for the first time until 1992's "Where Forever Begins", which peaked at number 40. McCoy broke through two years later with the back-to-back number one singles "No Doubt About It" and "Wink" from his platinum-certified album No Doubt About It. Although he has not topped the country charts since, his commercial success continued into the mid to late 1990s with two more platinum albums and a gold album, as well as six more top 10 hits. A ninth top 10 hit, the number 10 "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On", came in 2005 from his self-released That's Life.

Early life Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. was born on July 30, 1958, in Jacksonville, Texas, to a Filipino-American mother and Irish-American father. Inspired by the variety of music that his parents listened to, which included country, rock, disco and R&B, McGaughey first sang in his church choir before founding an R&B band. he did not release an album for the label. He continued to tour as an opening act for Pride until 1990,

1990–2000: Atlantic Records He then signed to Atlantic Records in 1990, changing his surname to McCoy per the label's request, as fans had already begun to refer to him as McCoy. His debut album, At This Moment, was released that year. None of the three singles made the country Top 40, although the lead-off single "If I Built You a Fire" was a Top 20 country hit in Canada. The other two releases were the title track, a cover of Billy Vera and the Beaters' #1 Hot 100 hit from late 1986-early 1987, and "This Time I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me", which was co-written by Earl Thomas Conley and originally recorded by Conway Twitty. McCoy continued touring and developed a "reputation for exciting, freewheeling live shows." After "That Woman of Mine", he reached No. 5 with "The Shake", the only new song on his first Greatest Hits package, which reprised nine of his greatest hits to that point and also earned platinum certification.

Be Good at It, his sixth studio release, followed in 1998. This was his first album since Where Forever Begins not to include a Top Ten hit. The title track, "If You Can't Be Good, Be Good at It", was the highest-peaking single release from it at No. 22, followed by "Party On", which became his first single since 1992 to miss Top 40 entirely.

In 1999, McCoy released his final album for Atlantic, The Life of the Party. He signed with an independent label called SEA Records in 2004, and was slated to release a single for it in the middle of the year, but he left the label without releasing anything.

2005–07 In 2005, Neal McCoy and his manager Karen Kane founded a label called 903 Music. His first single for his own label was "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On", which reached the Top 10 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 2005. The song served as the lead-off to his 2005 album That's Life. Also included on the album were a cover of Charley Pride's "You're My Jamaica," (Charley Pride also appeared on the tune), and a live version of "Hillbilly Rap", which he had performed in concert since the early 1990s.

In Summer of 2007, Neal could be seen showing off his comedic chops on local TV commercials in the Waco, Texas market for Mike Craig Chevrolet Pontiac Buick in Marlin, Texas. The commercials continued for approximately one year. In one of them Neal acts like a puppet in the hands of the branch manager of the Mike Craig dealership in Hillsboro, Texas.

2008–13: The Very Best of Neal McCoy, XII, and Pride In 2008, Rhino Records issued a compilation album entitled The Very Best of Neal McCoy. This album reprised most of his biggest chart hits to that point, and it included the new recording "Rednecktified", which was released as a single but did not chart. Later that same year, he issued another single, "For the Troops", which also failed to chart. McCoy released a book titled New Mountain to Climb in 2011, which coincided with the release of a single of the same name.

In April 2011, McCoy signed with Blaster Music. He released his twelfth album, XII, for the label on March 6, 2012. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert co-produced the album with Brent Rowan, and sang backing vocals on its lead-off single "A-OK".

A year later, McCoy released Pride: A Tribute to Charley Pride via Slate Creek Records, under the production of Garth Fundis. The album features guest appearances from Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, and Raul Malo of The Mavericks. To promote the album, McCoy and Pride filmed a video for "Kaw-Liga", which was co-written and originally recorded by Hank Williams before Pride covered it in 1969. On August 25, 2023, McCoy released a new single titled "Used Car".

Personal life McCoy has been married to Melinda since 1980. The two met when McCoy was working at a shoe store in a local mall. The couple have two children, a son and a daughter.

McCoy resides in Longview, Texas.

Discography

At This Moment (1990) Where Forever Begins (1992) No Doubt About It (1994) You Gotta Love That! (1995) Neal McCoy (1996) Be Good at It (1997) The Life of the Party (1999) 24-7-365 (2000) That's Life (2005) XII (2012) Pride: A Tribute to Charley Pride (2013) You Don't Know Me (2016)

Billboard number-one hits "No Doubt About It" (2 weeks, 1994) "Wink" (4 weeks, 1994)

Awards and nominations Grammy Awards 1997 Hope: Country Music's Quest for a Cure Best Country Collaboration with Vocals TNN/Music City News Country Awards 1997 "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye"

"The Shake"

1999 Academy of Country Music Awards

Neal McCoy Top New Male Vocalist "Wink" Single Record of the Year 2005 Neal McCoy Home Depot Humanitarian Award