Billy Dean

===1996–present===
Dean returned to the recording studio in 1996 for his fifth album, ''[[It's What I Do]]'', on [[Capitol Records]] Nashville. This album returned him to the Top Ten with its [[It's What I Do (song)|title track]] and "[[That Girl's Been Spyin' on Me]]", which reached numbers 5 and 4, respectively.<ref name="oldies"/> The final single, a cover of [[Don Williams]]' 1988 single "[[I Wouldn't Be a Man]]", fell short of Top 40. He also worked with actress and singer [[Crystal Bernard]] on her 1996 debut album ''Girl Next Door'', in addition to co-writing its debut single "Have We Forgotten What Love Is."<ref name="book"/> Later that year, Dean released a non-charting single, "In the Name of Love", which never appeared on an album. In 1998, [[Victoria Shaw (singer)|Victoria Shaw]] and several other artists, including Dean, collaborated on the charity single "One Heart at a Time".

''[[Real Man]]'', his sixth album, was issued in mid-1998. This album produced only one Top 40 hit in its title track, followed by "Innocent Bystander" which reached number 68. After this album, Dean exited Capitol's roster. He also took up acting once more, appearing in the minor TV specials ''A Face to Kill For'' and ''Blue Valley Songbird''.<ref name="oldies"/> In 2000, he and [[Alison Krauss]] made guest appearances on [[Kenny Rogers]]' single "[[Buy Me a Rose]]", which reached the top of the ''Billboard'' country charts in May of that year. This song was also a Top 40 hit on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], and Rogers' first number 1 single in thirteen years.

A year later, Dean joined [[Suzy Bogguss]] and 12-year-old singer [[Jillian Jacqueline|Jillian]] on "Please Keep Mom and Dad in Love," which was issued on Rogers's Dreamcatcher Records, and never included on an album.<ref name="oldies"/> Although he continued touring, he did not chart again until 2003 with "I'm in Love With You", released on the independent View 2 label. His next release for View 2 was a cover of [[John Denver]]'s "[[Thank God I'm a Country Boy]]". [[Curb Records]] took over promotion of this single shortly after its release,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KhAEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Billy+dean%22+%22View+2%22&pg=PA28 |title=Billboard – Google Books |date=April 10, 2004 |access-date=2012-03-25}}</ref> and by mid-2004 it reached number 27 on the country charts. Following it was the single "[[Let Them Be Little (song)|Let Them Be Little]]", co-written by [[Richie McDonald]] of [[Lonestar]] and recorded by the band on its 2004 album ''[[Let's Be Us Again]]''. Dean's seventh studio album, also titled ''[[Let Them Be Little]]'', was finally issued in late 2004 on Curb.<ref name="oldies"/> Although "Let Them Be Little" reached a peak of number 8 on the country charts in early 2005, the album's other singles all failed to reach Top 40. A [[Christmas music]] album, ''The Christ (A Song for Joseph)'', followed in late 2005. Included on the album was a duet with his daughter.

In addition to recording and touring, Dean is branching into using music for corporate marketing. One of his ventures, ''Song Sessions'', combines songwriting and corporate team building exercises.

Billy has taken over the lead role (formerly played by Kenny Rogers), playing Hank Longley, in "The Toy Shoppe" (a musical written by Kenny Rogers and Kelly Junkerman) at the Starlite Theater in Branson, Missouri, through the end of 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.starlitetheatre.com/show-in-branson-mo/the-toy-shoppe-shows-in-branson-mo/ |title=The Toy Shoppe - Shows in Branson MO - Starlite Theatre |access-date=2013-11-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115005605/http://www.starlitetheatre.com/show-in-branson-mo/the-toy-shoppe-shows-in-branson-mo/ |archive-date=November 15, 2013 |df=mdy }} Retrieved 2013-11-16.</ref>