Following the death of Elvis Presley in 1977, McDowell had a song that became his first country and only pop hit with his self-penned tribute song "The King Is Gone," which he recorded on the independent Scorpion record label. The record took off immediately, gaining airplay on country and pop radio stations across the United States and around the world. To date, "The King Is Gone" has sold more than 5 million copies. In addition, McDowell also provided vocals to the soundtrack to the 1979 made-for-TV Presley biography Elvis.

     McDowell scored a second hit for the Scorpion label entitled "I Love You, I Love You, I Love You" before being signed by CBS Records Epic in 1979.

     McDowell charted a string of hit singles and albums for Epic between 1979 and 1986. Every single release, except one, became a Top 10 hit, including "Older Women" and "You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation." Other hits during his Epic years included "Watching Girls Go By," "Personally," "You Made A Wanted Man Of Me," "Wandering Eyes", "All Tied Up," and "In a New York Minute."

     McDowell toured constantly to support each album release, and consequently built a large fan base throughout the country. He sought the advice of artists such as Conway Twitty, who became his mentor and friend. Twitty helped the young singer with advice about touring, recording and entertaining the fans.

     Moving to Curb Records in 1986, McDowell scored a Top 10 hit with "It's Only Make Believe," a duet with Conway Twitty on what had been Twitty's breakthrough rock and roll hit in 1958. Initially a member of McDowell's back-up band would substitute for Twitty during live performances. Recently, however, McDowell has performed the song live with Twitty's prerecorded voice, followed by a solo from a member of the back-up band. Two years later, McDowell teamed up with Jerry Lee Lewis for a duet that McDowell wrote, entitled "You're Never Too Old To Rock N' Roll." He also recorded yet another Top 10 hit with his cover version of the pop standard "Unchained Melody," which also became a #1 country music video. He started appearing in larger venues and touring with artists such as Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn before headlining his own shows.

     McDowell sang thirty six songs on the soundtrack, "Elvis," the Dick Clark-produced television movie which featured Kurt Russell as the performer. He also provided the singing voice of the soundtracks for the Priscilla Presley TV biopic "Elvis and Me", the ABC television series about the early years of Presley's career, "Elvis," and the 1997 Showtime special, "Elvis Meets Nixon."

     In 2002, McDowell recorded two albums for Curb Records, one consisting of beach music with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters, entitled, "Ronnie McDowell with Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters". The second project, a country album, entitled "Ronnie McDowell Country", a collection of six new McDowell penned songs and a few country standards by such legendary country singers and writers as Buck Owens, Harlan Howard and Dallas Frazier.

     McDowell often tours with The Jordanaires, Millie Kirkham, and one of Elvis Presley's original sidemen, D.J. Fontana. They stage a "no-jumpsuit" tribute to Presley's music and life. Two of McDowell's latest projects include an upcoming album consisting of music from both the "old school," and "new school" generations, and a single entitled, “Hey Mr. Oilman,” which was released during the recent gas price spike. Many other artists perform duets with McDowell on the album, including Bill Medley on the cover single, "Lost in Dirty Dancing."

McDowell continues to tour and enjoys painting as a hobby.

* * * * *

EDDIE HOLMAN

     His specialty ranges from R&B and pop to gospel. Although born in Norfolk, Virginia, Holman later grew up in New York. His mother, noticing that he loved to sing, even as early as the age of two, introduced him to the piano and the guitar, where he quickly revealed a natural aptitude. His abilities, however, were confined mostly to church and family gatherings until 1956. It was then, at the age of ten, that Little Eddie Holman stepped onto the stage on Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater and showed his smooth tenor voice. His victory at the Apollo began to open many other doors for the young prodigy. Soon, Holman was performing at theaters on Broadway and even at Carnegie Hall. Not wanting her son to miss any opportunity, his mother was able to get him enrolled at the Victoria School of Music in Harlem. At Victoria, he learned the technical craft of music and began to blossom. In 1962, Holman made his first record.

     As a teenager, Holman and his family moved to Philadelphia. After graduating from high school, he attended Cheyney State University where he graduated with a degree in music. It was in the Philadelphia soul scene that he began to develop his trademark style. While still in college, he recorded his first hit record, "This Can't Be True" (1965). Other hits began to follow: "Am I A Loser From The Start" (1966), "I Love You" (1969), "Don't Stop Now" (1970), and "Cathy Called" (1970). After singing with the Philadelphia groups The Delfonics and The Stylistics, Holman finally struck personal gold in 1970 with his ballad, "Hey There Lonely Girl" (originally "Hey There Lonely Boy" recorded in 1963 by Ruby and the Romantics), which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc from the R.I.A.A. in March 1970.^[1] The song inspired Smokey Robinson to dub Holman, "The man with the voice of an angel."^{[citation needed]}

     British journalist Tony Cummings once wrote, "Eddie Holman's voice, an astonishing precision instrument which can leap octaves with the speed of mercury and bend notes into shapes unimagined by lesser singers, has assured its possessor a place in soul history." In 1977, Eddie had a brief resurgence in popularity with his last two hit singles, "This Will Be A Night To Remember" and "You Make My Life Complete".

     Eddie Holman and his wife Sheila have three children. He is an ordained Baptist minister who uses his musical talents both as a tool of entertainment and as a medium to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ. He believes that his talent is a gift from God and therefore must be used to glorify his Maker. Furthermore, it is his belief "that those who are blessed with creative talent have a responsibility to encourage personal accountability and to set the best example possible because of the powerful influence that they have on the lives of so many young ones." [quoted from eddieholman.com]