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Russell ("Red") Steagall (born December 22, 1938) is a multitalented showbusiness personality whose career has covered a period of 35 years and has spanned the globe. He has performed for heads of state, including a special party for President Reagan at the White House in 1983, and has completed three overseas tours for the United States Information Agency to the Middle East, the Far East, and South America.
Steagall was born Russell Steagall in Gainesville, Texas, on December 22, 1938. He became a bull rider at rodeos while he was still a teenager, but at the age of 15, he was stricken with polio. He took up the guitar and the mandolin as physical therapy to recover the strength and dexterity of his arms and hands. Steagall entered a career in agricultural chemistry after graduating from West Texas State University with a degree in animal science and agronomy. He then spent eight years as a music industry executive in Hollywood, California and has spent the last forty years as a recording artist, songwriter, and television and motion picture personality. He currently maintains offices outside of Fort Worth, Texas, where, in addition to his entertainment activities, he is involved in the production of motion pictures and television shows.
In 1975 he discovered a then-unknown Reba McEntire and signed her to Mercury Records the following year. He discovered her while she was performing The National Anthem at the National Rodeo Finals competition in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. One year later, in October 1977, McEntire released her first album under Mercury, and though most of her Mercury albums were commercial failures, in 1984, she picked up with her big album, My Kind of Country.
In March 1993, Texas Christian University Press published Steagall's first book, entitled Ride for the Brand, a 168-page collection of poetry and songs embracing the western lifestyle that Red loves and lives. The book is illustrated by Cowboy Artists of America members Bill Owen, Fred Fellows, Joe Beeler and Howard Terpning.
In September 2003, Texas Tech University Press published Born to This Land, a joint effort between Red Steagall and Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Skeeter Hagler. The book contains Hagler's black and white studies of modern ranching, accompanied by Steagall's award winning poetry. The Academy of Western Artists named Born to This Land' as recipient of the Will Rogers Award for best book of 2003.
Red has won the Wrangler Award for original music five times: 1993 (for his Warner Western album, Born to This Land), 1995 (for the Warner Western album, Faith and Values), 1997 (for his Warner Western album, Dear Mama, I'm a Cowboy), 1999 (for Love of the West). In fall 2002, Steagall released his 20th album, Wagon Tracks, which also won the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Red released his new album Here We Go Again in August 2007. Here We Go Again features duets with Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, Charley Pride, Ray Benson, Neal McCoy, Larry Gatlin and Charlie Daniels.
In May 2011, Bunkhouse Press released Steagall's CD Dreamin' of......When the Grass Was Still Deep, featuring 8 songs and 2 poems.
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