• December 16, 1982
• Frankie Ballard was a star college baseball player in the NCAA with Western Michigan University. However, halfway through his junior year at the Kalamazoo, Michigan university, he realized that music rather than baseball was his calling. "I would stay after practice and take an extra 300 ground balls," Ballard later recalled. "And then all of a sudden I was leaving early and heading to the blues jam."
• Ballard kickstarted his music career as a result of entering Kenny Chesney's Next Big Star contest in 2008. Chesney held these contests in cities across America with the finalists competing for a chance to win $25,000, open for him at selected venues and garner an audition with Sony BMG. After winning the competition, the Battle Creek native opened shows for Chesney at various Michigan venues.
• After signing to Reprise Records Nashville in 2010, Ballard released "Tell Me You Get Lonely" as his debut single. The song reached #33 on the country chart.
• Frankie Ballard tied the knot with shoe designer Christina Murphy over the weekend of March 11-12, 2017. The wedding took place at Star Hill Ranch in Bee Cave, Texas.
• Christina Murphy is the owner of Old Smokey Boots, a shoe and accessory store.

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More Songfacts:

Lady MarmaladeLabelle

The chorus of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir" in "Lady Marmalade" is French for "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" When Labelle performed it on television, they had to change it to "Voulez-vous danser avec moi ce soir" (Do you want to dance with me tonight?).

SmoothSantana

Rob Thomas put some Spanish flavor in his Carlos Santana collaboration "Smooth" with the line "my muñequita," a pet name for his wife Marisol that means "my little doll."

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MC Skat Kat was created for the remix of "Opposites Attract," which was released as the last single from Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl album. The team that created the Kat also did a-ha's "Take On Me" video.

Paper PlanesM.I.A.

"Paper Planes" was inspired by M.I.A.'s hassles trying to get a visa to enter America.

Are You Gonna Go My WayLenny Kravitz

"Are You Gonna Go My Way" by Lenny Kravitz is from the perspective of Jesus Christ: "I am the chosen I'm the one."

Dancing QueenABBA

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson conceived "Dancing Queen" as a dance song with the working title "Boogaloo," drawing inspiration from the 1974 George McCrae disco hit "Rock Your Baby." Their manager Stig Anderson came up with the title "Dancing Queen."

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