John Blaylock
John William Blaylock (born July 3, 1961 in Warrior; died September 26, 2004 in Odesa, Ukraine) was a singer and songwriter.
Blaylock was the son of Jean and John Fletcher Blaylock of Warrior. He earned his bachelor of arts in music at the University of North Alabama and began working with Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals before moving to Nashville, Tennessee as a staff writer for Wrensong Publishing. While in Nashville, Blaylock lived with singer Ty Herndon and co-wrote his "A Not So Silent Night."
Blaylock moved to Los Angeles, California in the early 1990s. He sang lead vocals on the 1992 single "I'll Come Back To You" released by The Chippendales. He also appeared on "Star Search" with Ed McMahon that year. He also recorded two tracks with Les Hollifield in Birmingham which were released on Hollifield's Camellia Records.
Blaylock performed with the Chippendales and other revues across the United States and internationally, including performances with the USO and on cruise ships. He recorded a version of "When You Wish Upon a Star," played during the Light Magic parade and Walt Disney theme parks. He also composed music for several films, and for the late 1990s version of "The Newlywed Game."
Blaylock partnered with Barry Coffing in Uprising Entertainment in 2002, and created his own publishing company, Lock & Key Music. He released an album of Christmas songs entitled "Home for the Holidays" as a benefit project with all proceeds going to The Trevor Project. In 2004 Blaylock was leading his own review on an Oceania Black Sea cruise line in August 2004 when he began experiencing severe headaches. He was hospitalized in Odesa, Ukraine where he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died there in September. He is interred at Warrior Cemetery.
References
- "John William Blaylock" obituary (October 7, 2004) The Birmingham News
External links
- John William Blaylock at Findagrave.com
- John Blaylock at IMDB.com