Troy Lee Coleman III (born December 18, 1970), better known by his stage name Cowboy Troy, is an American rapper and singer. He is best known as a representative of the country rap genre for the song "I Play Chicken with the Train". He has released seven studio albums and one EP, including three releases on Warner Bros. Records, and has charted twice on the Billboard country singles charts.
Cowboy Troy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Troy Lee Coleman III[1] |
| Born | December 18, 1970 |
| Origin | Victoria, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels |
|
| Formerly of | MuzikMafia |
| Website | CowboyTroy.com |
Early life
editColeman was born in Victoria, Texas, on December 18, 1970.[2] He graduated from Skyline High School in the Dallas Independent School District. Coleman then attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a bachelor's degree.[3] Prior to beginning his career as a singer, he worked as the assistant manager of a Dallas area Foot Locker.[3]
He got the name Cowboy Troy in college, after a friend used the name to distinguish the cowboy-hat-wearing Coleman from his other friends named Troy.[4]
Career
editOn May 17, 2005, Troy released his first major-label solo album, Loco Motive, through the RAYBAW records production label and the Warner Music Group distribution label.[2] The album debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. The first single, "I Play Chicken with the Train," peaked at No. 48 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart on April 9, 2005 and was the No. 1 country download at the iTunes Music Store on April 15, 2005.
As a Chevrolet promotion, Troy, Gretchen Wilson, and Big & Rich released "Our America" as a free, time-limited download on July 1, 2005. They also performed the song live at the Boston Pops concert on July 4, 2005. "Our America" combines "The Star-Spangled Banner" with spoken word of parts of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of independence, Pledge of Allegiance and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech. The song peaked at No. 44 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, and appears as a bonus track on both Big & Rich's Comin' to Your City and Wilson's All Jacked Up albums.
Cowboy Troy released the single "If You Don't Wanna Love Me", a duet with Sarah Buxton. The single failed to chart, as did the follow-up, "My Last Yee Haw." A promotional single, titled "Hook 'Em Horns", was released on February 14, 2006 after his alma mater (the Texas Longhorns) won the national championship in football.
2006-present
editCowboy Troy co-hosted, with Jewel, the fifth season of Nashville Star on the USA Network and CMT Canada.[5]
Troy made a special appearance at the March 13, 2006 episode of WWE's RAW in Beaumont, Texas. He came to the announcer's table and helped announce for the match between superstars Edge and Goldust. His entrance music was "My Last Yee Haw." The April 30 episode of WWE's Raw, broadcast from Nashville, showed Troy in the crowd. The announcers mentioned him, and his duties hosting Nashville Star. In 2007, he released Black in the Saddle.
Troy parted ways with Warner Bros. Nashville in 2008.[6] He released Demolition Mission: Studio Blue Sessions in 2009. Troy returned to Warner Music Nashville to release "King of Clubs" in March 2014.
Cowboy Troy was cited as a featured guest artist on two tracks from the 2011 Vanilla Ice release titled WTF, which is available on iTunes.
In 2012, Troy appeared on the May 21 and 22 finale of Season 14 of the television show Dancing with the Stars, performing "I Play Chicken With the Train."
His 2017 single "Pork Chop" was used as the theme for "Porktober", the National Pork Board's October 2017 promotion.[7]
Troy starred in the 2022 Western film Desperate Riders.
Personal life
editCowboy Troy performed at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.[8] He is a self-described black conservative and a member of the Republican Party who supported Senator John McCain in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.[4]
Discography
editStudio albums
edit| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | US Rap | ||
| Beginner's Luck |
|
— | — | — |
| Loco Motive |
|
2 | 15 | 13 |
| Black in the Saddle |
|
28 | 153 | — |
| Demolition Mission: Studio Blue Sessions |
|
— | — | — |
| King of Clubs[9] |
|
— | — | 25 |
| Saloons on Neptune |
|
— | — | — |
| Laugh With Me |
|
— | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Extended plays
edit| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Hick-Hop Hysteria |
|
| Before You Knew My Name |
|
Singles
edit| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US Bubbling | US Pop | |||
| 2005 | "I Play Chicken with the Train" (with Big & Rich) | 48 | 18 | 81 | Loco Motive |
| "If You Don't Wanna Love Me" (with Sarah Buxton)[10] | — | — | — | ||
| 2006 | "Hook 'Em Horns" | — | — | — | — |
| 2007 | "Hick Chick" (with Angela Hacker) | — | — | — | Black in the Saddle |
| 2009 | "Cash in the Cookie Jar" | — | — | — | Demolition Mission |
| 2010 | "New Sheriff" | — | — | — | — |
| "Ballad of Cherokee Bill" | — | — | — | ||
| 2016 | "Countdown to Vacation" | — | — | — | Saloons on Neptune |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||
Other charted songs
edit| Year | Single | Artist | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | ||||
| 2005 | "Our America" | Big & Rich (with Gretchen Wilson) | 44 | Comin' to Your City |
Music videos
edit| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "I Play Chicken with the Train" | Deaton-Flanigen |
| "If You Don't Wanna Love Me" | Shaun Silva | |
| "My Last Yee Haw" | Kristin Barlowe | |
| 2007 | "Hick Chick" | Shaun Silva |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Full name per ASCAP database
- ^ a b c Jeffries, David. "Cowboy Troy biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
- ^ a b Cowboy Troy Bucks Country Rolling Stone Magazine "When the song took off last year, Troy had to leave his job at a Dallas Foot Locker store to tour with the duo, which was opening for Tim McGraw." May 05, 2005
- ^ a b "Q. & A. with Cowboy Troy". The Washington Times.
- ^ Jewel Takes a Shine to 'Nashville Star', Singer joins Cowboy Troy as co-host Archived 2012-09-27 at the Wayback Machine Zap2it.com September 27, 2006
- ^ Morris, Edward. "Country Rosters Remain Stable Despite Sales Downturn". CMT News. Archived from the original on January 10, 2015.
- ^ "Pork Board teams with Cowboy Troy to celebrate pork chops". www.nationalhogfarmer.com. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ Wayne, Leslie (August 11, 2008). "Checking Out the Parties' Parties". Thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com.
- ^ Wyland, Sarah (December 12, 2013). "Cowboy Troy to Release King of Clubs on March 11". Great American Country. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
- ^ "New Music Weekly for the week of June 6" (PDF). Billboard Radio Monitor. June 3, 2005.