Singer, songwriter, guitar player, producer, and publisher whose songs have sold over twenty million records worldwide and garnered over sixty million digital streams, several number ones, and Billboard songs yielding gold and platinum albums. He also created more than two hundred commercials for TV and radio, and his library of recorded soundtracks includes the co-scoring of nineteen films. He has had over 250 cuts, including artists such as Tiffany, Andy Williams, Juice Newton, and The Nelsons. He has sung background vocals with Phil Collins and numerous others, and he opened with Victoria Shaw at the historic Garth Brooks Central Park concert that drew over a million fans and was broadcast live on HBO.
“We wrote this song, and I just decided to put it out in the marketplace and see how it did, and it did really, really well in the European area, Australia, especially Poland, France, all those areas, and still on the charts in Canada. So, it was not expected, because I don't necessarily consider myself an artist so much as I am a songwriter singer, so it's kind of nice to watch this thing keep going.”
“I thought at one point, I'd probably do this, always wanted to do it for a living, but could I? It was a big question … My dad was more practical than I was. And he wanted me to get a job and finish college and all that. And at one point, I did quit. I sold all my equipment… a buddy of mine … was in Houston playing and his grandma died and he asked if I could fill in for him on a happy hour at the little club… And I said, ‘I don't have any equipment.’ He said, ‘It's all there, just bring your guitar. So, I did it. I played two days in a row and I never looked back.”
“BMI would do a Monday night thing once a month where they'd bring a producer in and you'd sign up for it. And if you got picked to come in, you got to play the producer some songs. They’d tell you in advance (what) he's looking for… it could be anything. And I did that for years and got a lot of connections, got in the film world because of BMI.”
“He suggested me to meet with the producer, George Tobin, which I did. And George said, ‘I like what you're doing. If you want to write some songs, I want to hear a verse and a chorus and nothing else. And if that flies then you can finish the song.’ So, we started writing and we wrote 18 verses and choruses until he picked one for the first album and that album sold 13 million.”
“We got a record deal with Clive Davis.”
“I had a studio that I was part owner of… And through that I met Bill Medley.”
“We did all these little showcases just one-on-one sitting at the table with two guitars and we got offered publishing deals from four of them and we ended up picking Island Music.”
“I shared a dressing room with Billy Joel and Don McLean, and I felt quite uncomfortable sharing that dressing room with those guys.”
“I have a publishing company… we started the publishing company in ‘78 with one song and we built that to over 5,000 songs right now.”
“I ended up touring with The Nelsons. We opened for America, Air Supply, Rick Springfield, Meatloaf, and toured… just the three of us, all acoustic tour, it was absolutely fantastic.”
“You can't expect to just show up … the first time you're there and be a hit. We've come to think that now because of the … The Voice and all those kind of shows, make everybody think you can just be a star overnight and it does create those things to some degree but the people that last, they're far and few between.”
“You better love what you do. If you don't love what you're doing, don't bother because you're gonna be miserable. But if you love it there's never gonna be a bad day.”
“George On Vinyl”
“To You From Me”