April 20, 2003

‘The Baby’ Arrives At #1

Award-winning songwriter Harley Allen and Warner Bros. artist Blake Shelton were guests of honor at BMI Nashville for a celebration of their #1 hit, "The Baby." Also on hand to receive congratulations and engraved commemorative cups were producer Bobby Braddock and the song's publisher, Coburn Music, Inc.

Coburn Music's Jewel Coburn, Blake Shelton, Harley Allen, BMI's Joyce Rice and Bobby Braddock

Allen previously scored #1 hits and earned BMI Country Awards with "Between The Devil And Me" (Alan Jackson) and "The Little Girl" (John Michael Montgomery). He also garnered two Grammys (Album and Best Country Collaboration), two CMA Awards (Album and Single) and two ACM Awards (Album and Vocal Event) for his work with the Soggy Bottom Boys on 2001's smash soundtrack "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". Earlier in his career, Allen met success touring and recording with his siblings as The Allen Brothers. Other artists who have recorded his songs include Daryl Worley, Ricky Skaggs, John Conlee, Alison Krauss, Garth Brooks, Hal Ketchum and Linda Ronstadt.

"The Baby," the first single from Shelton's Warner Bros. album The Dreamer, is the second #1 for him, following "Austin" from his self-titled debut. Shelton's latest single is "Heavy Lifting," and he is a guest vocalist, along with Montgomery Gentry and Andy Griggs, on Tracy Byrd's current release,"The Truth About Men."