Dwight Yoakam Biography
Dwight Yoakam is a widely known American singer, songwriter, actor, and film director, best known for his pioneering technique of country music.
He first became popular in the mid-1980s, he has recorded more than 20 albums and collections charted almost 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and sold more than 30 million records. He has recorded five Billboard No. 1 albums, twelve gold albums, and nine platinum albums, including the triple-platinum This Time. In addition to his many achievements in the performing arts, he is as well the most regular musical guest in the history of The Tonight Show.
10 Quick Facts About Dwight Yoakam
- Name: Dwight Yoakam
- Age: 65 years old as of 2021
- Birthday: 23 October
- Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
- Height: 6 feet (1.83 m)
- Nationality: American
- Occupation: Singer, Songwriter, Actor, Film director
- Marital Status: Married
- Salary: Under review
- Net worth: $45 million
Dwight Yoakam Age
Yoakam is 65 years old as of 2021, he was born on 23 October 1956, in Pikeville, Kentucky, United States. He celebrates his birthday on 23 October every year and his birth sign is Scorpio.
Dwight Yoakam Height
Yoakam stands at a height of 6 feet (1.83 m) tall.
Dwight Yoakam Education
Yoakam studied at Northland High School and graduated in 1974. In his high school years, he took part in both the music and drama programs, having been cast in lead roles for the school’s plays, including “Charlie” in Flowers for Algernon. Outside of school, Yoakam sang and played guitar with local garage bands.
Additionally, he shortly attended The Ohio State University, though he dropped out and moved to Los Angeles in 1977 with the intent of becoming a recording artist. On May 7, 2005, Ohio Valley University in Parkersburg, West Virginia, awarded and presented Yoakam with an honorary doctorate.
Dwight Yoakam Family
Dwight Yoakam was born in Pikeville, Kentucky to David Yoakam (father) and Ruth Ann Yoakam (mother) and he was raised in Columbus Ohio United States. Yoakam grew up together with his two siblings namely, Ronald Yoakam (brother) and Kimberly Yoakam (sister).
Dwight Yoakam Wife|Ex Wife|Married
Yoakam married his lovely wife Emily Joyce. The duo began dating photographer Emily Joyce in late 2010. They became engaged in 2011 and married in a small ceremony in Santa Monica, California, in March 2020. They both share a son, Dalton Loren Yoakam who was born on August 16, 2020.
Dwight Yoakam Net Worth
Yoakam has an estimated net worth of $45 million dollars as of 2022. This includes his assets, money, and income. His primary source of income is his career as a singer. Through his various sources of income, Yoakam has been able to accumulate good fortune but prefers to lead a modest lifestyle.
Dwight Yoakam Measurements and Facts
Here are some interesting facts and body measurements you should know about Dwight Yoakam.
Dwight Yoakam Wikipedia
- Full Names: Dwight David Yoakam
- Popular As: Country Music Singer
- Gender: Male
- Occupation / Profession: Singer, Songwriter, Actor, Film director
- Nationality: American
- Race / Ethnicity: White
- Religion: Not Known
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
Dwight Yoakam Birthday
- Age / How Old?: 65 years old as of 2021
- Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
- Date of Birth: 23 October 1956
- Place of Birth: Pikeville, Kentucky, United States
- Birthday: 23 October
Dwight Yoakam Body Measurements
- Body Measurements: Not Available
- Height / How Tall?: 6 feet (1.83 m)
- Weight: Moderate
- Eye Color: Brown
- Hair Color: Brown
- Shoe Size: Not Available
Dwight Yoakam Family and Relationship
- Father (Dad): David Yoakam
- Mother: Ruth Ann Yoakam
- Siblings (Brothers and Sisters): Ronald Yoakam, Kimberly Yoakam
- Marital Status: Married
- Wife/Spouse : Married to Emily Joyce
- Dating / Girlfriend: Not Applicable
- Children: Sons ( Dalton Loren Yoakam)
Dwight Yoakam Net Worth and Salary
- Net Worth: $45 million
- Salary: Under Review
- Source of Income: From his career as a Singer
Dwight Yoakam Singer-songwriter and musician
Dwight Yoakam began his singing career in Nashville where he was oriented toward pop and “urban cowboy” music and branded playing hip honky-tonk music which was not considered marketable. He made no headway in Nashville and moved to Los Angeles where he worked towards bringing his particular brand of new Honky Tonk or “Hillbilly” music (as he called it) to move it forward in the 1980s.
Dwight Yoakam wrote all his own songs, and continuing to perform mostly outside traditional country music channels, he did many shows in rock and punk rock clubs around Los Angeles, playing with roots-rock or punk rock acts like The Blasters (Yoakam scored a small video hit with his version of their song “Long White Cadillac”), Los Lobos, and X.
This helped him diversify his audience beyond the typical country music fans, and his authentic, honky-tonk revivalism brought rock audiences closer to country music. When he began his career, Nashville was oriented toward pop “urban cowboy” music, and Yoakam’s brand of hip honky-tonk music was not considered marketable. Not making much headway in Nashville, Yoakam moved to Los Angeles and worked towards bringing his particular brand of new Honky Tonk or “Hillbilly” music (as he called it) forward into the 1980s.
Writing all his own songs, and continuing to perform mostly outside traditional country music channels, he did many shows in rock and punk rock clubs around Los Angeles, playing with roots-rock or punk rock acts like The Blasters (Yoakam scored a small video hit with his version of their song “Long White Cadillac”), Los Lobos, and X.
This helped him diversify his audience beyond the typical country music fans, and his authentic, honky-tonk revivalism brought rock audiences closer to country music. Yoakam’s recording debut was the self-financed EP Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. on independent label Oak Records produced by lead-guitarist Pete Anderson; this was later re-released by Reprise Records, with several additional tracks, as his major-label debut LP, 1986’s Guitars, Cadillacs.
The record hit the market during a sea change in country music: the urban cowboy music was out of style, and neotraditional music based on classic styles, such as Yoakam’s honky-tonk inspired music, was now in demand. The LP was a breakout hit and spawned his first two hit singles: “Honky Tonk Man”, a remake of the Johnny Horton song, and the title track “Guitars, Cadillacs.” His stylish video “Honky Tonk Man” was the first country music video ever played on MTV.
The follow-up LP, Hillbilly Deluxe, was just as successful. His third LP, Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room, included his first No. 1, a duet with his musical idol, Buck Owens, on “Streets of Bakersfield”. 1990’s If There Was a Way was another best-seller.Yoakam’s song “Readin’, pays tribute to his childhood move from Kentucky and is named after a local expression describing the route that rural Kentuckians took to find a job outside of the coal mines.
(U.S. Route 23 runs north from Kentucky through Columbus and Toledo, Ohio and through the automotive centers of Michigan.) Rather than the standard line that their elementary schools taught “the three Rs” of “Readin’, ‘Ritin’, and ‘Rithmetic”, Kentuckians used to say that the three Rs they learned were “Readin’, ‘Ritin’, and Route 23 North”.
Johnny Cash once cited Yoakam as his favorite country singer. Chris Isaak called him as good a songwriter as ever put a pen to paper. Time dubbed him “A Renaissance Man” and Vanity Fair declared that “Yoakam strides the divide between rock’s lust and country’s lament.”Along with his bluegrass and honky-tonk roots, he has written or covered many Elvis Presley-style rockabilly songs, including his covers of Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” in 1999 and Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” in 1992.
He recorded a cover of Clash’s “Train in Vain” in 1997, a cover of the Grateful Dead song “Truckin’”, as well as Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me”. He has never been associated only with country music; on many early tours, he played with hardcore punk bands like Hüsker Dü and played many shows around Los Angeles with roots/punk/rock & roll acts.
His middle-period-to-later records saw him branching out different styles, covering rock & roll, punk, 1960’s, blues-based “boogie” like ZZ Top, and writing more adventurous songs like “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere”.
In 2003, he provided background vocals on Warren Zevon’s last album The Wind. In 2000, Yoakam released dwightyoakamacoustic.net, an album featuring solo acoustic versions of many of his hits. 2005 saw the release of Yoakam’s well-reviewed album Blame the Vain, on New West Records.
He also released an album dedicated to Buck Owens, Dwight Sings Buck, on October 23, 2007. His duet with Michelle Branch, a song titled “Long Goodbye”, was released as a free download on her official website in early 2011.In July 2011, Yoakam re-signed with Warner Bros. Nashville and announced plans to release a new album. 3 Pears was released on September 18, 2012, with twelve new tracks. Produced by him, it includes a collaboration with Beck.
3 Pears was released to resounding critical acclaim and earned him the highest-charting debut of his career on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Country Albums charts. 3 Pears reached #1 on the Americana Radio chart on October 29, 2012, and went on to break the 2012 record for most weeks at #1 on Americana Radio.
By the end of 2012, it was named on annual best-of lists by NPR, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, AOL’s The Boot, Entertainment Weekly, The Village Voice, and Rhapsody, and has been included in more critics’ “best of 2012” lists than any other artist in the country genre.In June 2014, Rolling Stone ranked the song “Guitars, Cadillacs” #94 in their list of the 100 greatest country songs. In February 2015, Yoakam announced a new studio album, titled Second Hand Heart, and released on April 14.
In 2016, he supported the album by performing at the C2C: Country to Country festival in Europe. He performed at the Americana Music Honors & Awards, announcing that he was working on a new album of all bluegrass songs. The album, titled Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars, was released on September 2016. In 2018, Yoakam embarked on the LSD Tour with Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle.
Dwight Yoakam Film and television career
Yoakam has appeared in films most notably as an ill-tempered, abusive live-in boyfriend in Sling Blade (1996), as a psychopathic killer in Panic Room (2002), as a police detective in The Minus Man (1999) and as the sheriff in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005).
He appeared in a supporting role as Doc Miles, the doctor for Chev Chelios, in Crank (2006) and its sequel, Crank: High Voltage (2009). In addition, he guest-starred in the King of the Hill episode “Nine Pretty Darn Angry Men” as Lane Pratley.
The episode also featured his frequent collaborator Billy Bob Thorton. He had a cameo appearance in the 2005 comedy movie Wedding Crashers. In 2006, he starred alongside Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek in Bandidas; in 2008, he played Pastor Phil in Four Christmases, starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon; and he appears in Dirty Girl (2010).
He also appeared in The Last Rites of Ransom Pride, an independent 2010 Western that also stars fellow country singer Kris Kristofferson. He played a truck driver in the Wyoming crime thriller, Red Rock West (1993).
He also played Brentwood Glasscock in The Newton Boys (1998). In 2000, Yoakam co-wrote, starred in, produced and wrote the soundtrack for South of Heaven, West of Hell, also starring Vince Vaughn and Bridget Fonda.
Some of his songs are included in the film Big Eden (2000). Yoakam was featured in a recurring role as Bruce on the FX series Wilfred but was replaced by William Baldwin in the show’s fourth and final season.
He also appears in the second season of Under the Dome as Lyle Chumley, who runs the Chester’s Mill’s barbershop. In 2016 Yoakam appeared in a supporting role on the Amazon original show Goliath which stars Billy Bob Thornton.
Bakersfield Biscuits
Yoakam’s food brand, Bakersfield Biscuits, has been available at retailers such as Walmart.
SiriusXM – Dwight Yoakam and the Bakersfield Beat
On April 26, 2018, SiriusXM launched a new channel: Dwight Yoakam and the Bakersfield Beat that features the music from Southern California that focuses on, and influences, the Bakersfield sound.
Dwight Yoakam Films
- Logan Lucky 2017
- 90 Minutes in Heaven 2015
- Dirty Girl 2010
- The Last Rites of Ransom Pride 2010
- Bloodworth 2010
- Crank: High Voltage 2009
- Two: Thirteen 2008
- Four Christmases 2008
- Bandidas 2006
- Crank 2006
- Wedding Crashers 2005
- The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada 2005
- Three-Way 2004
- Hollywood Homicide 2003
- Panic Room 2002
- South of Heaven, West of Hell 2001
- The Minus Man 1999
- The Newton Boys 1998
- Painted Hero 1997
- The Little Death 1995
Dwight Yoakam Television Shows
- Drunk History 2016
- Goliath
- Under the Dome 2014
- To Appomattox 2013
- Wilfred 2011-2013
- Dinner for Five 2002
- King of the Hill 1998
- When Trumpets Fade 1998
- Ellen 1997
- Don’t Look Back 1996
- Roswell 1994
- Rhythm & Jam 1993
- P.S. I Luv U 1991
- Hee Haw 1986
Dwight Yoakam Guitar
Dwight Yoakam Songs
- Things Change A Long Way Home · 1998
- You’re the One If There Was a Way · 1990
- Long White Cadillac Dwight Live · 1995
- The Heart That You Own If There Was a Way · 1990
- The pocket of a Clown This Time · 1993
- Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room · 1988
- I Want You to Want Me Tomorrow’s Sounds Today · 2000
- It Won’t Hurt Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. · 1986
- These Arms A Long Way Home · 1998
- Little Sister Hillbilly Deluxe · 1987
- Try Not to Look So Pretty This Time · 1993
- The Back of Your Hand Population Me · 2003
- Nothing’s Changed Here If There Was a Way · 1990
- Sorry You Asked? Gone · 1995
Dwight Yoakam Tours | Concerts
- Sat, Sep 21 8:00 PM Lake Charles, LA
Golden Nugget Lake Charles Hotel & Casino - Fri, Oct 11 8:00 PM Bakersfield, CA
The Historic Bakersfield Fox Theater - Sat, Oct 12 7:00 PM Alpine, CA
- Viejas Casino & Resort
- Thu, Oct 17 7:00 PM New Orleans, LA
- Fillmore New Orleans
- Fri, Oct 18 7:30 PM Bossier City, LA
- Horseshoe Bossier City
- Sat, Oct 19 6:00 PM Austin, TX
- Nutty Brown Amphitheatre
- Thu, Nov 7 7:30 PM Richmond, VA
- The National
- Fri, Nov 8 8:00 PM Westbury, NY
- NYCB Theatre at Westbury
- Sat, Nov 9 8:00 PM New York, NY
- Terminal 5
- Sun, Nov 10 8:00 PM Mashantucket, CT
- Foxwoods Resort Casino
- Thu, Nov 14 11:00 PM Melbourne, FL
- Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts
- Fri, Nov 15 8:00 PM Clearwater, FL
- Ruth Eckerd Hall
- Sat, Nov 16 8:00 PM Sarasota, FL
- Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
- Sun, Nov 17 8:00 PM Jacksonville, FL
- Florida Theatre
- Thu, Nov 21 8:00 PM Lancaster, CA
- The Lancaster Performing Arts Center
- Fri, Nov 22 8:00 PM Sparks, NV
- Nugget Casino Resort
- Sat, Nov 23 8:00 PM West Wendover, NV
- Peppermill Concert Hall
- Sun, Nov 24 7:00 PM Yountville, CA
Napa Valley Performing Arts Center - Wed, Dec 4 8:00 PM Las Vegas, NV
Wynn Las Vegas - Fri, Dec 6 7:00 PM Las Vegas, NV
- Wynn Las Vegas
- Sat, Dec 7 7:00 PM Las Vegas, NV
- Wynn Las Vegas
- Tue, Dec 10 7:00 PM Las Vegas, NV
- Wynn Las Vegas
- Thu, Dec 12 8:00 PM Las Vegas, NV
- Wynn Las Vegas
- Sat, Dec 14 8:00 PM Las Vegas, NV
- Encore At Wynn Las Vegas
- Wed, Mar 4 8:00 PM Las Vegas, NV
- Encore At Wynn Las Vegas
- Fri, Mar 6 7:00 PM Las Vegas, NV
- Wynn Las Vegas
Dwight Yoakam Records | Albums
- Original Album Series 2017
- 21st Century Hits: Best of 2000–2012
- A Walk In The Woods (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 2015
- Dwight Sings Buck 2007
- Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Star 2016
- Second Hand Heart 2015
- Cher Country: The Collection 2014
- Dolly Parton Just Country 2018
- Bob Dylan Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash 2002
- Dwight Yoakam Rhino Hi-Five: 2007
- Faith Hill Country Love Songs Vol. IV 2011
- Rhino Hi-Five: Chart Hits: Country 2006
Dwight Yoakam Quotes
- In the past 3-4 years, I’ve developed a habit of keeping numerous small cassette recorders in my house and in a bag with me so that I’m able to commit to tape memory song ideas on a constant basis.
- It became a metaphor for the lives of the people in this film and for the Old West, for the abandonment that occurred in the early part of the 20th century.
- I embrace country music because of love, a love of what I came from.
- I’ll never quit playing country music, or at least acknowledging it, always, as the cornerstone of what I am.
- I live out of cans a lot. But I try to indulge only in healthy canned food.
- ‘m really proud of it. To me, it’s a movie about character behavior and the pecking order of the pack, as well as the central character’s massive survival guilt.
- A voice expressing emotion in a musical way moves on. It’s like the finale of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – the world turns in on itself, as a universe unto itself, in the shape of one human being.
- But that is a valid, continuing service that that music – which is, in some cases, 80 or 90 years old – is rendering. And proving its own timelessness.
- I think actors are at the mercy of the opportunities presented to them. So you kind of have to wait for them to choose you. My music is insular – I can choose that.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dwight Yoakam
Who is Dwight Yoakam?
Dwight Yoakam is a widely known American singer, songwriter, actor, and film director, best known for his pioneering technique of country music.
How old is Dwight Yoakam?
Yoakam is 65 years old as of 2021, he was born on 23 October 1956, in Pikeville, Kentucky, United States.
How tall is Dwight Yoakam?
Yoakam stands at a height of 1.83 m.
Is Dwight Yoakam married?
Yes, Yoakam married his lovely wife Emily Joyce. The duo began dating photographer Emily Joyce in late 2010. They became engaged in 2011 and married in a small ceremony in Santa Monica, California, in March 2020.
How much is Dwight Yoakam worth?
Yoakam has an approximate net worth of $45 million. This amount has been accrued from his leading roles in the entertainment industry.
Where does Dwight Yoakam live?
Because of personal reasons, Yoakam has not shared his precise location of residence. We will update this information if we get the location and images of his house.
Is Dwight Yoakam dead or alive?
Yoakam is alive and in good health. There have been no reports of him being sick or having any health-related issues.
Where is Dwight Now?
Yoakam is and has been producing music since the 1980s, having his last music released on YouTube on 21 May 2021. Watch and sing the lyrics of Yoakam’s latest release below.
Dwight Yoakam Contacts
- Youtube
- Tiktok
- Website
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