LOS ANGELES (Mercury/UMe Records) - "Achy, Breaky Heart" and the line dancing phenomenon were a '90s guilty pleasure. Unfortunately for Billy Ray Cyrus, his massive hit, the dance and the fame that accompanied it overwhelmed the music that followed.
BILLY RAY CYRUS - THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION (Mercury/UMe), released June 22, 2004, offers a new opportunity for those other songs to be heard. Among the compilation's 22 digitally remastered selections are all 11 of his Top 40 country hits as well as songs such as "Some Gave All" and "Trail Of Tears" which received critical acclaim.
His 1992 debut album, SOME GAVE ALL, was sparked by the infectious "Achy, Breaky Heart" - No 1 country for five weeks, Top 5 pop, platinum, and the Country Music Association's Single of the Year. The nine times platinum album spent 17 weeks atop the country AND pop charts, and was the fourth biggest-selling album of the '90s.
Its "Could've Been Me" climbed to No 2 country, "She's Not Cryin' Anymore" to No 6 and "Wher'm I Gonna Live" to No 23.
Cyrus co-wrote each of the latter two as well as the title track, which became an anthem for military veterans. Following such success was a no-win situation yet 1993's IT WON'T BE THE LAST entered the pop chart at No 3, country chart at No 1 and reached platinum thanks to the hits "In The Heart Of A Woman" (No 3), "Somebody New" (No 9) and "Words By Heart" (No 12).
THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION also includes "Talk Some." The next year's STORM IN THE HEARTLAND, with its Top 40 country title track, "Deja Blue" and "Roll Me Over," earned gold. His "The Fastest Horse In A One Horse Town" was heard on 1995's NASCAR: RUNNIN' WIDE OPEN.
1996's TRAIL OF TEARS prompted some of the best critical notices of his career. The Cyrus-penned title song, with his finest vocal to date, was a moving depiction of the plight of the American Indian. The album also boasted "Truth Is I Lied," "Three Little Words" and his cover of Jeannie C. Riley's 1968 hit "Harper Valley P.T.A." "It's All The Same To Me" went Top 20 from 1997's THE BEST OF BILLY RAY CYRUS: COVER TO COVER.
SHOT FULL OF LOVE (1998) contained the No 3 "Busy Man" along with "Time For Letting Go" and "Give My Heart To You."
Exiting Mercury, his 2000 Monument Records album SOUTHERN RAIN featured the Top 20 "You Won't Be Lonely Now."
Cyrus has continued to record, from 2002's TIME FLIES to 2003's gospel album THE OTHER SIDE. He also stars in the #1-rated PAX TV series "Doc." A dozen years after "Achy, Breaky Heart," Billy Ray Cyrus remains instantly recognizable.
A new series dedicated to country artists, the first slate of THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION releases includes compilations for Cyrus, George Jones, Patsy Cline, Sammy Kershaw, The Mavericks, and Don Williams.
