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Sonny James (born James Loden on May 1, 1929 in
Hackleburg, Alabama) is an United States|American
country music singer and songwriter. 


James Loden was born on a farm into a family of
musicians. Nicknamed "Sonny", by age three he was
playing a mandolin and singing and at age four
joined with his "Mom" & "Pop" Loden and
nine-year-old sister Thelma "Sis" Loden to perform
on an area radio station. A musically inclined
adopted sister by the name of Ruby Palmer also
joined the group and the singing Loden family's
popularity was such that before long they were
playing theaters, auditoriums and schoolhouses
throughout the southern United States. After years
on the road, in 1949 the two girls married and the
family band dissolved.

In 1950, James Loden joined a country band in
Memphis, Tennessee but his desire for a full-time
career in music was interrupted by service in the
Korean War. After nearly eighteen months overseas
he was shipped home and discharged in the late
fall of 1952. Loden immediately headed for
Nashville, Tennessee where, with the help of Chet
Atkins whom Loden had met while touring with his
family's band, he signed with Capitol Records. The
company  had him drop his last name and as "Sonny
James" he made his first studio record. While
appearing on a popular radio show, the Louisiana
Hayride, he met musician Slim Whitman. James'
performance on stage playing a fiddle and singing
brought a strong crowd response and Whitman
invited him to front for his new touring band.
James stayed with Whitman's group for a few months
before returning to Nashville to make further
recordings including what became his first Top Ten
country hit, That's Me Without You. Over the next
few years he had several songs that did reasonably
well on the country music charts and he continued
to develop his career with performances at live
country music shows as well as on radio and then
on the all-important new medium, television.

Dubbed the "Southern Gentlemen" because of his
polite demeanor, in 1956 Sonny James recorded
"Young Love",  a 45rpm Single (music)|single for
which he would forever be remembered. As the first
ever "crossover (music)|crossover" song, it made
it into both the pop music|pop and country music
charts. However, a shortage of pressing plants in
and around Nashville, a problem not fixed for
another year, resulted in his record company not
being able to meet the overwhelming consumer
demand for his record. Partly as a result of this
problem a cover version was organized by Chicago
record promoters that was sung by the then red-hot
movie star and teen idol, Tab Hunter. Sonny James'
agent was able to get him nationwide exposure with
a television appearance on the very important Ed
Sullivan Show on January 20, 1957. However, in an
odd twist of fate, the lack of records on store
shelves and a national promotion behind the Tab
Hunter record saw the movie star actually benefit
the most. Two weeks after Sonny James sang his
song on the Ed Sullivan show, Hunter's version
climbed to No. 1 Hits of 1957|No.1 on the popular
music charts.

Sonny James went on to a long and highly
successful career and in 1962 he became a member
of the Grand Ole Opry. From 1964 to 1972, Sonny
James was the dominant force in country music. He
had a string of country Top 10 hit singles
including a No.1 cover version in 1969 of the Roy
Orbison hit, "Only The Lonely". Beginning in 1967,
Sonny James recorded sixteen straight No. 1
singles that started with "I'll Never Find Another
You" and ended in 1971 with "Here Comes Honey
Again." James' record remained in tact until it
was surpassed years later by the group, Alabama
(band)|Alabama. He was a guest performer on
popular television shows such as the Bob Hope|Bob
Hope Show, the Ed Sullivan Show and Hee Haw. He
also made minor appearances in several Hollywood
motion pictures and in 1969, Billboard magazine
named him "Artist of the Year."

In 1983, James retired to his cattle ranch in
Alabama.

For his contribution to the recording industry,
Sonny James has a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame.