George Hamilton IV

George Hamilton IV
George Hamilton IV at the Grand Ole Opry in 2007
Background information
Birth name	George Hege Hamilton IV
Born	(1937-07-19)July 19, 1937 Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Died	September 17, 2014(2014-09-17) (aged 77) Nashville, Tennessee
Genres	Country
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1956–2014
Labels	ABC, Colonial, RCA Victor, Lamon
Website	http://georgeiv.net/

George Hege Hamilton IV (July 19, 1937 – September 17, 2014) was an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, later switching to country music in the early 1960s.

Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on July 19, 1937. While a 19-year-old student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hamilton recorded "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" for a Chapel Hill record label, Colonial Records. The song, written by John D. Loudermilk, climbed to No. 6 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart. By 1960, "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" had attained gold record status for ABC-Paramount (which had acquired the song from Colonial). The self-penned B-side of the record, "If You Don't Know", revealed Hamilton's ambitions to be a rockabilly-country singer. In late 1959, Hamilton moved his family to Nashville, Tennessee to further his work as a country musician. On February 8, 1960, Hamilton officially became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Later that same year, he began recording for RCA Records, having been signed by Chet Atkins. In the UK he was less successful, with his biggest hit being "I Know Where I'm Going" in 1958. In 1984 he appeared with Billy Graham on his UK tour 'Mission England' and made other appearances as a solo performer in venues around the UK at this time.