Lots of kidz play the guitar or sing at a young age, but how many kidz become international super stars by the time they're 12 years old? Not many, but Billy Gilman isn't your average kid - he's one of the youngest country singers in the world.
William Wendell Gilman, born May 24, 1988, grew up in Hope Valley, Rhode Island and was belting out songs before he was even in kindergarten. At the age of seven, while some boys were pretending to be cowboys - Billy wasn't just pretending. He started getting gigs at country fairs and opening for western singers like Jo Dee Messina. His singing career really got a jump start after he was discovered by Ray Benson from the country group Asleep at the Wheel. Ray was impressed by his powerful voice and had him make a demo tape. It wasn't long until Epic Nashville Records came knocking and the lil' cowboy released his first CD in 2000 called One Voice. Billy Gilman's album sold 30,000 copies in one week and was hot on the heels of the Dixie Chicks' Fly CD on Billboards Top Country Album chart.
Since the release of his CD, Billy Gilman's been popping up all over the place, like on the Today Show, ShowBiz Today, music award shows and, of course, the Rosie O'Donnell Show. Rosie is very supportive of anything to do with kidz and quite often has extraordinary kidz on her show. Aside from the tube, Billy Gilman's performed with popular cowboys like George Strait, his idle Tim McGraw and even Alabama. Not to mention he's been featured in People and Billboard magazines.
Billy Gilman says that, "All I really want is to please the people, the audience." Billy may be young but he has a really good attitude toward his singing career. Who knows, it might not be long before he puts Garth Brooks out of a job.
For more dirt on cowboy Billy Gilman check out his official site
www.billygilman.com.
