John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry.
Hiatt was working as a songwriter for Tree International, a record label in Nashville, Tennessee, when his song "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here" was covered by Three Dog Night. To escape the stress of his early life, Hiatt watched IndyCar racing and listened to Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and the blues. In his youth, Hiatt reports that he and several others stole a Ford Thunderbird, a crime for which he was caught by the owners but got away with posing as a hitchhiker. He learned to play the guitar when he was 11 and began his musical career in Indianapolis as a teenager. He played in various local clubs such as the Hummingbird and also with bands, including The Four-Fifths and John Lynch & the Hangmen.
Career
Hiatt moved to Nashville, Tennessee, when he was 18 years old and got a job as a songwriter for the Tree-Music Publishing Company for $25 a week (equivalent to about $203 in 2024). as one of three singer-songwriters within the group. White Duck had already recorded one album before Hiatt joined. He wrote and performed two songs on their second album In Season. Hiatt performed live in many clubs around Nashville with White Duck and also as a solo act.
Early solo career (1974–78)
Hiatt met Don Ellis of Epic Records in 1973, and received a record deal, releasing his first single "We Make Spirit" later that year. That same year Hiatt wrote the song "Sure as I'm Sitting Here" recorded by Three Dog Night, to record Slow Turning, which was his first album to hit the upper half of the Billboard 200. It was Hiatt's highest-peaking album at No. 47, but was not the commercial breakthrough A&M expected.
Also in 1993, Love Gets Strange: The Songs of John Hiatt, a compilation album of covers of Hiatt's songs, was released. This was followed by an album of original covers Rollin' into Memphis: Songs of John Hiatt in 2000, and a second compilation album with a few originals, titled It'll Come To You...The Songs of John Hiatt, in 2003.
In 1994, Hiatt released Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan?, his first official live album and his last album with A&M Records.
In November 2011 Hiatt guested at Joe Bonamassa's two night Beacon Theatre, New York concerts. The following year Bonamassa released a two LP, CD and DVD capturing the two nights.
Hiatt presented an Americana Lifetime Achievement Award to Bonnie Raitt on September 12, 2012. The two performed "Thing Called Love" together at the ceremony.
On July 15, 2014, Hiatt released Terms of My Surrender, his 22nd studio album. It earned him two Grammy nominations.
On October 12, 2018, Hiatt released The Eclipse Sessions, an LP via New West Records. The album, his first in four years, was recorded over four days in the summer of 2017, a period that included the August 21 solar eclipse. Hiatt recorded the album as part of a trio of guitar, bass (Patrick O’Hearn), and drums (Kenneth Blevins).
Personal life
Hiatt has two daughters, singer-songwriter Lilly Hiatt and Georgia Rae Hiatt, and a stepson, Robert. Along with singing, Hiatt is also a whistler, whistling in many of his songs.
Discography
alt=|thumb|Hiatt and his backing band, The Combo, 2012
- Hangin' Around the Observatory (Epic, 1974)
- Overcoats (Epic, 1975)
- Slug Line (MCA, 1979)
- Two Bit Monsters (MCA, 1980)
- All of a Sudden (Geffen, 1982)
- Riding with the King (Geffen, 1983)
- Warming Up to the Ice Age (Geffen, 1985)
- Bring the Family (A&M, 1987)
- Slow Turning (A&M, 1988)
- Stolen Moments (A&M, 1990)
- Perfectly Good Guitar (A&M, 1993)
- Walk On (Capitol, 1995)
- Little Head (Capitol, 1997)
- Crossing Muddy Waters (Vanguard, 2000)
- The Tiki Bar is Open (Vanguard, 2001)
- Beneath This Gruff Exterior (New West, 2003)
- Master of Disaster (New West, 2005)
- Same Old Man (New West, 2008)
- The Open Road (New West, 2010)
- Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns (New West, 2011)
- Mystic Pinball (New West, 2012)
- Terms of My Surrender (New West, 2014)
- The Eclipse Sessions (New West, 2018)
- Leftover Feelings – with the Jerry Douglas Band (2021)
Awards
- 2000 Nashville Music Awards: Songwriter/Artist of the Year
- 2008 Americana Music Association: Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting
- 2019 BMI Troubador Award