Chris LeDoux

Chris LeDoux was an American country music singer, songwriter, and former professional rodeo cowboy born on October 2, 1948, in Biloxi, Mississippi. He grew up moving between Mississippi, Texas, and Wyoming, and he developed a passion for both music and rodeo at an early age. LeDoux won the world bareback riding championship at the 1976 National Finals Rodeo, which gave him the platform to begin selling self-recorded cassette tapes from the back of his truck.

He recorded dozens of independent albums through his family-run label, American Cowboy Songs, before signing with Capitol Records in 1991. His mainstream breakthrough came after Garth Brooks name-checked him in the 1989 hit Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old), which introduced LeDoux's catalog to a national country audience. The two later recorded the duet Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy, which earned a Grammy nomination in 1993.

LeDoux's discography includes albums such as Western Underground, Haywire, and One Road Man. His songs drew from real ranch and rodeo life, and he kept performing for fans of working-cowboy culture even as country radio shifted toward pop crossover sounds. He raised his family on a ranch outside Kaycee, Wyoming, and remained closely identified with that state.

He was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis and received a liver transplant in 2000. Cancer was discovered later, and he died on March 9, 2005, at the age of 56. Wyoming honored him with a statue in Cheyenne and a state highway designation.

Their name Chris derives from the Greek Christos, meaning anointed one, by way of the longer form Christopher. Chris ranked among the top boys' names in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s and remains a familiar short form today.