22 Facts About Hal Ketchum

Hal Michael Ketchum was an American country music singer and songwriter.

Hal Ketchum released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records.

Hal Ketchum's music is defined by his songwriting and folk music influences.

Hal Ketchum retired from the music business in 2019 following a diagnosis of dementia.

Hal Michael Ketchum was born on April 9,1953, in Greenwich, New York.

In 1981, Ketchum moved to Austin, Texas, where he began to visit Gruene Hall, a small dance hall outside New Braunfels, a town about 60 miles south of Austin.

Hal Ketchum was a finalist in the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Singer-Songwriter Contest in 1985 and was named one of six winners in 1986.

In 1986, Hal Ketchum recorded his debut album, Threadbare Alibis, released two years later on the Watermelon Records label.

Hal Ketchum then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and signed a record deal with Curb Records.

In 1991, Hal Ketchum released his Curb debut album Past the Point of Rescue.

The last single from the album was a rendition of The Vogues' "Five O'Clock World", which Hal Ketchum took into top 20 of Hot Country Songs in 1992.

Hal Ketchum wrote the first two singles, " Fall in Love Again" and "That's What I Get for Losin' You", with former NRBQ member Al Anderson.

Hal Ketchum was inducted as the 71st Member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1994.

Hal Ketchum did not appear on the charts again until 1998, when he reached number 36 with a cover of Todd Rundgren's "I Saw the Light", from his next album, titled I Saw the Light.

Hal Ketchum covered "If I Never Knew You" with Shelby Lynne for The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney.

Hal Ketchum followed with his final albums Father Time in 2008, and I'm the Troubadour in 2014.

In total, Hal Ketchum had six Billboard top 10 singles and sold five million albums.

Hal Ketchum appeared in the 1988 film Heartbreak Hotel, and made a cameo appearance as a bank robber in the 1994 film Maverick.

In June 1998, Hal Ketchum was diagnosed with a neurological disorder called acute transverse myelitis, an ailment of the spinal column, which left him without the use of the left side of his body.

Hal Ketchum was a painter and his work has been displayed at Pena Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he had an opening in 2002.

Hal Ketchum was a master carpenter and enjoyed building toys.

Hal Ketchum died at his home in Fischer, Texas, due to complications of dementia, on November 23,2020, at the age of 67.