The late country singer and rodeo rider Chris LeDoux spent the last few weeks back in the saddle as his name was honored on two fronts. The singer, who passed away in 2005, had a bronze statue dedicated to his memory in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Country superstar Garth Brooks, one of LeDoux’s biggest champions in life, attended the dedication ceremony. Meanwhile, his record label released a new greatest hits compilation aptly titled Wyoming Cowboy.
LeDoux was a rarity in country music. He did not just play a cowboy in concert, he actually spent several decades as a rider on the rodeo circuit, winning a world championship for bareback riding in 1976. Alongside his riding, he developed his singing career, often putting on concerts at the rodeos after risking his neck in the ring. His lyrics were populated with tales of cowboys, county fairs, frontier living and his affections for the chewing tobacco brand Copenhagen.
LeDoux’s abilities as a storyteller and his energetic live shows served as a major source of inspiration for Brooks. On his debut album, Brooks famously mentioned LeDoux in the track “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old).”
The burst of publicity from this lyrical homage helped LeDoux secure a major label record deal in the early ‘90s. Over the next 15 years he released multiple studio albums, compilations and a live album. He recorded a duet with Brooks, “Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy,” which became LeDoux’s highest charting single. LeDoux later teamed up with Jon Bon Jovi to record a new version of the Jersey rocker’s solo cut “Bang a Drum.”
Sadly, LeDoux died of cancer at the age of 56 in 2005. After his death, he was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
I still recall my first encounter with LeDoux’s music. It was in the spring of 1998 when the video for his live version of “This Cowboy’s Hat” became part of the rotation on Country Music Television (aka CMT), back when it still regularly showed videos. The song tells the story of a cowboy at a roadside diner who encounters a group of bikers who begin mocking him for his hat. He responds with a series of stories about the hat’s history, emphasizing why they’d be better not to mess with it. The tune features some guitar picking, a power chord crescendo and a thunderous guitar solo.
The video itself is prototypical ‘90s country pizzazz, like an update of an ‘80s hair metal video. It featured slow-motion images from a live show, complete with pyrotechnics, tight jeans, big belt buckles, beautiful women and cowboy hats. I found it so engaging that I went out and found a used copy of LeDoux’s live album, which had the unremarkable title Live. Talking to another country fan, he said “It’s probably worth buying the album just for that tune.” And it was.
In honor of LeDoux’s life and music, check out “This Cowboy’s Hat” and bask in the ‘90s country glory.
If you’re still intrigued, watch the video he made with Jon Bon Jovi for “Bang a Drum.”
