Billy Dean

==Biography==
Dean was born in [[Quincy, Florida]], on April 2, 1962.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p1582/biography|pure_url=yes}} |title=Billy Dean biography |access-date=2008-11-30 |last=Loftus |first=Johnny |work=[[Allmusic]]}}</ref> His father, also known as Billy Dean, maintained a band called The Country Rocks in his spare time.  By the age of 8, Dean began playing in his father's band.<ref name="book"/> Throughout high school, at [[Robert F. Munroe Day School]], he continued to play music, both in his father's band and with other local musicians. He soon began touring in local clubs, and sang [[Frank Sinatra]]'s "[[My Way]]" at his high school graduation.<ref name="oldies">{{cite web |url=http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Billy-Dean.html |title=Billy Dean biography |access-date=2008-11-30 |work=Oldies.com}}</ref>

Dean was also a basketball player in high school, and was offered a scholarship to [[East Central Community College]] in [[Decatur, Mississippi]].<ref name="allmusic"/> He attended college for one year before dropping out in order to pursue his desired career in music.<ref name="book"/> By the time he was 20, Dean made the finals on the [[Wrangler Jeans|Wrangler]] Country Star Search, followed by a Male Vocalist win on the television competition ''[[Star Search]]'' six years later.<ref name="allmusic"/> He also worked as a demo singer and took acting lessons, appearing in television commercials for [[McDonald's]], [[Chevrolet]] and [[Valvoline]].<ref name="book"/> By the end of the decade, he had signed to a publishing contract with [[EMI]] Music, as well as a recording contract with [[SBK Records]], a subsidiary of [[Liberty Records]].
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