Blackhawk

BlackHawk is an American country music group founded in 1992 by Henry Paul (lead vocals, mandolin, acoustic guitar), Van Stephenson (background vocals, electric guitar), and Dave Robbins (background vocals, keyboards). Several backing musicians also performed with the trio; however, these backing musicians were not officially part of Blackhawk until 2008. Prior to the group's formation, Robbins and Stephenson had co-written several Number One singles for the country pop band Restless Heart, and Stephenson had also charted two pop hits in the early 1980s. Paul had previously been a member of the Southern rock band Outlaws as well as fronting his own band, the Henry Paul Band, from 1979 to 1983. In 1993, Blackhawk was signed to a record deal with Arista Nashville. Their debut single, "Goodbye Says It All", was released that year, peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts, and their first album (1994's BlackHawk) was certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA. Throughout the rest of the 1990s, the band continued to chart several singles, in addition to releasing three more albums and a Greatest Hits package. Van Stephenson departed the group in 2000 due to complications from skin cancer. He was replaced with Randy Threet (also a former member of the Outlaws), who made his first appearance on Spirit Dancer, the band's fifth studio album. After Threet's departure in 2003, Anthony Crawford took over as tenor vocalist and lead guitarist; Crawford was, in turn, succeeded by Michael Randall four years later. From early 2008 until he re-joined in 2010, Robbins left the group to resume his songwriting career, and Threet re-joined. Since then, BlackHawk's backing band has been subsumed into the main group, which comprises Paul (lead vocals, guitar, mandolin), Randy Threet (bass guitar, background vocals), Dale Oliver (lead guitar, background vocals), Dave Robbins (keyboards, background vocals), and Monte Yoho (drums, percussion).