Bill Anderson

As a singer, television host and prolific songwriter, Bill Anderson became a prominent and much loved figure on Nashville's country music scene throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Anderson earned a degree in journalism and was working at the Atlanta Constitution newspaper when City Lights, a song of isolation and loneliness he'd written as a 19-year-old, became a surprise hit for Ray Price and topped the country charts in 1958. "Whispering Bill" went on to score seven Number 1s on the country chart as a performer in his own right and crossed over into the US Top 10 with his signature anthem Still in 1963. His albums Bright Lights And Country Music (1965), I Love You Drops (1966), My Life (1969) and Sometimes (1976) were hugely popular, while his television career saw him present the game shows The Better Sex and Fandango, star in the soap opera One Life To Live and become a longstanding member of The Grand Ole Opry. In the 1990s, Steve Wariner had a Top Five hit with a version of his song Tip Of My Fingers, and Anderson remained an active songwriter and radio host well into his seventies.