Kevin Sharp (country singer)
| Kevin Sharp | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kevin Grant Sharp |
| Born |
December 10, 1970 Redding, California, U.S. |
| Died | April 19, 2014 (aged 43) Fair Oaks, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1996–2014 |
| Labels | Asylum, Cupit |
| Associated acts | Tony Rich |
| Website | Official website |
Kevin Grant Sharp (December 10, 1970 – April 19, 2014) was an American country music singer, author, and motivational speaker. Sharp came on the country music scene in 1996 with his first single "Nobody Knows", which topped the Billboard country chart for four weeks. The same year, Sharp released his first album, Measure of a Man.
Having survived a rare form of bone cancer in his teenage years, Sharp became actively involved in the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He wrote an inspirational book about his life and his fight with cancer, and occasionally toured the United States as a motivational speaker.
Sharp was born in 1970 in Redding, California. When he was seven years old, his family moved to Weiser, Idaho, to open a restaurant. Sharp performed in local musicals in high school, and stayed active in music after his family moved to Sacramento, California, in 1985. Starting in 1989, he began to experience dizziness and fatigue. While still a high school senior, he was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. The cancer had already spread to his lungs and he was given little chance of recovery. Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses, Sharp met the record producer David Foster, with whom he soon became friends. After two years of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, when still in his early 20s, the cancer went into remission by the early 1990s, although he permanently lost all of his hair as a result of the radiation treatment.
After remission, Sharp worked at Great America in Santa Clara, California, while working on a demo tape, which he sent to various talent shows, and later to David Foster. Foster introduced him to A&R representatives and, by 1996, Sharp was signed to Asylum Records. His first album, Measure of a Man, was released in September 1996. The album's first single, a cover version of the R&B artist Tony Rich's "Nobody Knows", spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. He became a spokesperson for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and was awarded the foundation's Wish Granter of the Year award, in 1997. He was named New Touring Artist of the Year by the Country Music Association and nominated for Top New Male Vocalist award by the Academy of Country Music.
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