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Regie Hamm is an American singer-songwriter. He has multiple credits as a songwriter, producer, musician (keys, drums, vocals), and artist.^[1]

Contents 1 Early and Personal life 2 Singing career 3 Songwriting career 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early and Personal life

His father was a traveling Pentecostal minister. Regie played drums in his father's band at an early age, and eventually left to go to college.^[2] He is married to Yolanda and they adopted a girl from China, whom they named Isabella. Isabella has a rare genetic disorder called Angelman syndrome, which causes severe development delays. They also have a son named Gabe. [1]

[edit] Singing career

After college, Regie began experiencing songwriting success with songs recorded by the likes of Kenny Loggins, Maxi Priest, Bob Carlisle, Jaci Velasquez, and Clay Crosse. He wrote one of the most popular Christian songs of the 90's, entitled "I Surrender All," recorded by Clay Crosse.^[2]

Hamm released a solo-CD entitled "American Dreams" on Universal South in 2003, and this CD spawned the Top 20 AC hit entitled "Babies," in addition to his success in the CCM market. The song gained mainstream popularity after it was featured on Delilah Rene's nationally-syndicated love-songs program.

SESAC's website reports that Hamm's new EP, titled Starlight, was released in conjunction with the American Idol finale on his website, and shortly on iTunes.^[3]

[edit] Songwriting career

In 2008, Hamm wrote a song called "The Time of My Life" at the encouragement of his wife, Yolanda, an avid American Idol fan. He submitted the song for the American Idol Songwriting Competition, and won. The song became the finale song and first single for the winner of American Idol's seventh season, David Cook.^[4] The RIAA certified "The Time of My Life" platinum on December 12, 2008 for selling over 1 million digital downloads.^[5] The song was particularly successful on U.S. Adult radio. The song reached number one on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, breaking a 36 week streak of number one songs by female artists on the chart, and initially remained at the top spot for 11 weeks. During the Holiday 2008 season, Faith Hill's "A Baby Changes Everything" briefly overtook the #1 spot on the chart, but "The Time of My Life" returned to the top in January 2009, where it has spent an additional 3 weeks so far. This brings its total to 14 non-consecutive weeks at #1 to date. The song has also enjoyed one of the longest runs at #1 on the chart, placing in the top ten of longest running #1's by a male artist on the chart. It also reached the top ten on the Adult Top 40, peaking at #7.^[6][7]

In addition to the American Idol success, Regie Hamm also has a cut on Clay Aiken's new CD. The CD is entitled "On My Way Here," and Regie co-wrote "Something About Us."^[4] Regie also has a song on Lonestar's last studio album.^[8]

He has had over 400 cuts as a songwriter, and has been named SESAC songwriter of the year 4 times.^[9][10]

[edit] References

1. ^ allmusic ((( Regie Hamm > Credits )))
2. ^ ^{a b} AllMusic.com biography
3. ^ SESAC - News Content
4. ^ ^{a b} 'Time' is now for American Idol Songwriter winner - USATODAY.com
5. ^ http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=Cook,%20David&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25%22
6. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/chart_beat/bonus.jsp Billboard. Retrieved on 11 September 2008
7. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/chart_beat/bonus.jsp?JSESSIONID=dmygJ0Yd21DxRn7sYGKmbGvMqVMMyP2X9HQGbN91QrKQJRQ3pY21!1021236734 , Billboard. Retrieved on 2 December 2008
8. ^ allmusic ((( Regie Hamm > Overview )))
9. ^ www.regiehamm.com
10. ^ allmusic ((( Regie Hamm > Songs > Songs Composed By )))

[edit] External links

• Official site