Biography

 

Rex Allen Jr. was the star of Yesteryear and The Statler Brothers Show on TNN for 9 years and with over 50 hits like It’s Over, Lonely Street and Two Less Lonely People, Rex is truly a living legacy of Country and Western Music and a member of The Western Music Hall Of Fame.

“Just when you thought you’ve done everything, you get invited to take Western Music to China!” says Rex, “It will always be a feather in my Cowboy hat to be remembered as the first performer ever allowed to sing on The Great Wall Of China – the song I chose to sing was the one I wrote for my beloved state: I Love You Arizona. 2013 started with the honor of performing 2 nights with The Phoenix Symphony in “Rex Allen, Jr. in An Arizona Tribute” on January 18 & 19th, 2013.

Rex came across a box of old demos as he was preparing to move in 2012 and asked his many Facebook fans if they were interested. He got such a tremendous response that he came up with the concept of doing CDs entitled: “Garage Songs”. Rex does all his recording in his home studio and volume 1 through 6 are available on iTunes and CDBaby.com. His latest project ‘Garage Songs VI “Love Songs”’ was released Valentines Day 2015. The cover features his Grandchildren Mary Fletcher Allen and Jackson Rex Allen. ‘Garage Songs VII’ was released in the fall of 2015. The cover fetures a picture of Rex and his granddaughter Mar7y Fletcher on the cover. “So far I think GS VII is my best work” says Rex. “Lot’s of great songs”. ‘Garage Songs VIII The Folk CD’ is almost completed and should be released in the next two months.

In 2011, The State of Arizona declared Rex’s song I Love You Arizona the official song of the Arizona centennial. “What a privilege” says Rex “My family is so proud and I know my father would be busting his buttons!”  Also in 2013 Rex will be inducted into The Arizona Entertainers and Musicians Hall of Fame to go along with Rex being inducted into The Western Music Association Hall Of Fame in 2006. “What an incredible honor!”

In 2009 Rex released his 25th album, Songs I Wrote. “That wasn’t the original title. The album should have been called All the songs Rex Allen Jr. wrote, recorded, put on an album, should have released a single and didn’t! I settled on Songs I Wrote”. The CD contains a wonderful collection of songs including Where Are The Heroes, which is destined to become another Rex classic.

Two albums were released in 2006. My Favorite Yesteryears released in August and The New West in the fall of the same year! The New West was recorded in Benton, Kansas at using the harmonies and musicianship of the Diamond W Wranglers. “I chose them because I feel they really know Western Music and the harmonies that made it what it is today” say’s Rex. Look for these CD’s thru his website, on iTunes and the Rex Allen Museum in Willcox, Arizona: Garden spot of the universe, center of culture and education, cattle capitol of the world and hometown of Rex Allen!

The $40 million dollar film Me, Myself And Irene starring Jim Carrey and produced by the Farrelly Brothers used the familiar-voiced Rex Allen Jr. as the movie’s narrator. When Rex intones “Meet Charlie” at the start of the film, you might expect him to introduce a mountain lion instead of the star Jim Carrey.

With the success of the Carrey film, Rex Allen Jr. moved his ever-expanding career into yet another dimension as the narrator of the CMT Special CMT’s Most Shocking Feuds, WD 40 and the voice of the local and national Radio and TV commercials for Mahindra Tractor as well as countless others.

Blessed with a golden voice and a true dedication to his music and career. Rex Allen Jr. is the consummate Actor/Singer/Entertainer. He proves this on each and every concert and on each and every television show. Which is why he continually gets invited back for repeat performances both on tour and as a regular on television.

Rex Allen Jr’s relationship with The Nashville Network began in 1992 when his old friends The Statler Brothers called and offered him a regular slot on their Saturday night show. “We knew that Rex could sing anything we could throw at him. He is the best singer in the business” said Harold and Don Reed of the Statler’s. When the show premiered in the fall of 1992, it quickly became TNN’s highest rated show

After three successful years on The Statler Brothers Show, TNN asked Rex to consider spinning off the most popular segment Yesteryear into its own series. Yesteryear debuted on September 30, 1994 and within four weeks became the number 2 rated show with an average viewing audience of over 28 million people in 58 million households nationally.

Rex returned to the Statler Brothers show in 1996 for two more seasons. The last show he did as a regular was the highest rated show in TNN history.

With the success of both television shows and the Jim Carrey film, Warner Brothers decided to release a new collection of Rex’s greatest hits called “The Very Best Of Rex Allen Jr.”. Warner Western has released a body of REX’S Western Music recordings with his father “The Singing Cowboys-Rex Allen Jr and Rex Allen Sr.” And finally REX has recorded and released his much awaited Gospel album. 24 classic Gospel songs entitled “Faith of a man Volume II and III”.

In 1997 REX wrote, directed and stared in the production show “Gone Country” at a major venue in Las Vegas. “Las Vegas is the capitol of live entertainment and it has always been one of my goals to perform there” comments REX. “This opportunity gave me the chance to do it right. Like I always wanted. “Gone Country” propelled REX to even greater national prominence and showed that production and direction are a part of his future.

Rex Allen Jr. grew up in a show business family. It could be said that he was destined to enter the world of entertainment. He began singing at a very early age and decided that his enjoyment of singing and performing was transferred easily to family and friends at church and school. “I remember as a boy I would sneak over to the Troubadour in L.A. and listen to Hoyt Axton….from the outside! He had a great influence on my singing style.”

“I majored in Theater Arts in College and studied at the MGM Actors Studio with Vince Chase to also pursue an acting career. “I knew that learning to feel comfortable on stage would enhance my musical performance and help put my audience and me at ease. I have never lost sight that people pay to be entertained and that I must always give them my best performance” say’s Rex.

Rex has had a steady flow of top 40 singles during his recording career. Songs like “Lonely Street”, “No, No, No” and “It’s Over” to name just a few. Rex was also honored in 1982 by having his song and recording “I Love You Arizona adopted as the official state song.

A body of albums such as “Brand New”, “Ridin High”, Oklahoma Rose”, “Cat’s in the Cradle” and “The Singing Cowboy” cemented Rex’s reputation as a highly original and refreshingly versatile singer/songwriter. Though this national recognition and media exposure Rex Allen Jr. was named Most Promising Male Vocalist by the fan voted Music City New Awards and won the Country Music Magazine “Entertainer of the Year”.

If entertainment is what you want, then….. Rex Allen Jr. fills the bill. But, most importantly, Rex’s audiences always leave the show knowing they have been supremely entertained.

 Short Bio

The beauty of the American Dream is that it waits for each of us to find it in our own way, in our own time. For some, it shines atop the distant, shimmering mountain. For others, it remains patient, like the grains, growing golden up from the fertile heartlands. For Rex Allen Jr. the Dream was found in the songs and voices of the fabled American West, which gave him hope and direction as a young man. And as he continues to draw life from those icons and inspirations, he finds his Dream ever ready, for the next song, the next stage, and the next adventure.

America’s great promise is that all men can be kings, and Allen’s legacy is indeed royal. The namesake heir of Hollywood’s last singing cowboy and a revered narrator, Rex the younger shares his father’s greatest gift- his voice.  Choosing to chart a new map for himself, however, he found his own ghost towns, broken hearts and unseen trails to illustrate for his loyal, decades-long fanbase.

The new millennium has well rewarded that loyalty. Building off his television successes in the ‘90s, including The Statler Brothers Show and Yesteryear, 2000’s Me, Myself & Irene allowed Allen to give a heart-felt homage to his father, narrating the beloved Jim Carrey/Renèe Zellweger feature.  Allen has rekindled his musical flames as well: “I lost the music in me for about five years. I have been so disappointed in the current country music… I thought people weren’t interested in hearing ‘good’ songs anymore.”

Eight albums in the last seven years- with no sign of slowing down- have eased Rex’s doubts that real songs will always find real listeners- regardless of wherever those listeners may live. “It will always be a feather in my cowboy hat to be the first performer ever allowed to sing on the Great Wall of China”, Allen recounts with a humble joy. The Great American Cowboy China Tour of 2006 brought the pioneering spirit of the Old West to the world’s largest country, opening more than a few cross-cultural doors along the way.

“And all are a part of my memories now…”

Honored in 2008 with induction into the Western Music Hall of Fame, Rex was again deeply affected when “Arizona”, his loving nod to his adopted homeland, was declared the alternate state song and official theme of Arizona’s Centennial celebrations, by Arizona’s State Legislature, in 2012. Arizona will continue to show its love October 5th, 2013 as Rex will be inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame, which follows on the heels of Allen receiving the Twentieth Annual Ernest Tub Memorial Award, from the Western Film Preservation Society in July 2013. For the man Billboard Magazine once described as “the finest voice in Country Music”, his livelihood has been reward enough: “I have come to have peace. I have a good life and a wonderful career- and now I know I wouldn’t change it if I could.”

Through all the blessings Allen has embraced in his career, time and tide have drawn him to a crossroads where he is now the voice, still golden but wisened by time, offering a bit of guiding light for those rising up around him. “My roots are in Western music, in the feel and harmonies of my early work, on through to what I am doing today.” Reflecting on finding his joy in music again, “The Garage Songs Volumes are a look into my soul… the songs I am choosing are a part of my life, and each one has a story and a meaning to me.”

Works

Major Motion Pictures

The Town That Banned Christmas
My, Myself and Irene with Jim Carrey (Narrator)
Buckaroo also Executive Music Producer
The Bears of Big Sky Country The BBC (Narrator)

 

Major Television Shows

CMT’s Most Shocking Feuds 2004-2005
Yesteryear 1994-1996. Host of #2 rated show on TNN
The Statler Brothers Show 1992-1998. Regular on the #1 rated show on TNN
Nashville On The Road 1982-1984. 52 shows. Co-host with Jim Stafford

 

Major Television Appearances

The Rose Parade 2001
Nashville Now
Music City Tonight
Dinah

Merv Griffin
Hee-Haw
That Nashville Music
Saturday Night Special

Music City News Awards
CMA Awards

 

Awards

Western Music Association Hall of Fame 2007
Entertainer of the Year Country Music Magazine
Most Promising Male Vocalist Music City News

Major Appearances

The Great American China Tour
Gone Country
Country Music Festival-Vienna, Austria
Florida State Fair of Tampa
Iowa State Fair
South Florida Fair
State Fair of Maine
Arkansas State Fair
Pima County Fair

Missouri State Fair
Evergreen State Fair
Mississippi Valley Fair
Ohio State Fair
Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo
Ft. Worth Fat Stock Show Central Wyoming Rodeo
Odessa Texas Rodeo
San Antonio Rodeo

San Angelo Texas Rodeo
Days of 47 Rodeo
Snake River Stampede
Texas State Fair
Rex Allen Days 1952-2013
Phoenix Symphony
Festival of the West
Lone Pine Film Festival

Major Commercials

Sears
Schlitz
TNN
Kraft
RC Cola

20th Century Fox
Chevrolet
Tony Lama
Starz Encore
Boy Scouts of America

Kubota
Eli Lilly
Discover Card