Blackhawk (band)
Blackhawk (sometimes spelled 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). Prior to the group's formation, Paul had been a member of the Southern rock band Outlaws, while Stephenson was a solo rock artist. 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 before leaving again and reducing the membership to just Robbins and Paul. History. Blackhawk was founded in 1992 by lead vocalist/guitarist Henry Paul, vocalist/guitarist Van Stephenson, and keyboardist/vocalist Dave Robbins. Prior to the band's foundation, Paul was a member of the Southern rock band Outlaws, and Stephenson had a pop hit in 1984 with "Modern Day Delilah". After the latter, Robbins and Stephenson began writing songs together, including several  singles for the band Restless Heart. After exiting Outlaws, Paul began writing with Robbins and Stephenson as well and thus decided to form a band with them. The band was initially named Firehawk, but they quickly changed it to Blackhawk after the Stutz Blackhawk, a model of sports car. 1993–1995: "Blackhawk". In 1993, Blackhawk signed to Arista Nashville, releasing their debut single "Goodbye Says It All" that year. The song, which peaked at No. 11 on the Hot Country Songs charts in early 1994, served as the lead-off to their self-titled debut album, which also produced four more  singles: "Every Once in a While", "I Sure Can Smell the Rain", "Down in Flames", and the Jeff Black-penned "That's Just About Right". These songs all reached Top Ten on the country charts. "BlackHawk" was certified 2 × Multi-Platinum by the RIAA for shipping two million copies in the United States. 1995–1996: "Strong Enough". Blackhawk's second album, "Strong Enough", was released in 1995. Its lead-off single, "I'm Not Strong Enough to Say No" peaked at No. 2, followed by "Like There Ain't No Yesterday" at No. 3. Both of these singles were also  Number One hits on the "RPM" Top Country Tracks charts in Canada. However, none of the other three singles from the album reached Top Ten in either country with the exception of "Big Guitar" reaching No. 8 in Canada, and "King of the World", the final single, fell short of the Top 40. Nonetheless, "Strong Enough" earned the group an RIAA gold certification for selling 500,000 copies. 1997–1999: "Love & Gravity" and "The Sky's the Limit". "Love & Gravity" was the title of Blackhawk's third album, released in 1997. Only two singles were released from this album: the lead-off  Hole in My Heart at No. 31 and "Postmarked Birmingham", one of Phil Vassar's first compositions, at No. 37. The group's chart success was restored in late 1998, however, with the release of "There You Have It", which went on to peak at No. 4. This song brought Blackhawk to the "Billboard" Hot 100 for the first time, peaking at No. 41 on that chart. "There You Have It" was the first of two singles from 1998's "The Sky's the Limit", which also produced the No. 27 "Your Own Little Corner of My Heart". 2000–2003: "Greatest  Hits" and "Spirit Dancer". In 2000, Blackhawk released their "Greatest Hits" collection, composed of the greatest hits from their first four albums. One of this album's newly recorded tracks, "I Need You All the Time", was a minor Top 40 hit on the country charts. Shortly afterward, Stephenson departed the group, due to complications from skin cancer, from which he died in 2001. Stephenson was replaced by Randy Threet, another former member of The Outlaws, who formerly served as the bass guitarist in Blackhawk's backing band, Backhawk. In 2002, the group left Arista for Columbia Records, with one  album (2002's "Spirit Dancer") being released on that label before the group was dropped in 2003. That same year, Threet left as well, with Anthony Crawford taking his place. 2005–present. In 2005, Blackhawk sang background vocals on Keni Thomas' single "Gloryland", which was originally recorded by the band themselves on "Spirit Dancer". A year later, the band signed to Rust Records, releasing two singles but no album, due in part to the label's closure. Crawford also left in 2006, with Michael Randall succeeding him. Robbins left in 2008 and was replaced with Jon Coleman. That same year , the group's backing band — which by then comprised Chris Anderson (lead guitar, background vocals), Randy Threet (bass guitar, background vocals), and Monte Yoho (drums, percussion) — was assumed into the official lineup of BlackHawk. A live album was released in September 2008 on Airline Records. On February 9, 2010 BlackHawk announced they were returning to the studio to work on a new album. The band hopes to have the new album completed by May 2010 and have announced several tour dates. In July 2010, it was announced that Jon Coleman left the band to play for Trace Adkins. Founding member  and keyboardist/vocalist Dave Robbins agreed to tour with Blackhawk, although it was unknown if his schedule will allow him to join the band on a permanent basis. Taken from the official Blackhawk website and according to Henry Paul, "We are all are glad to have Dave back in the band and hope he decides to stay for the long haul." "Down from the Mountain" was the band's sixth studio album and was released in 2011. It contained nine new songs from the band and a different version of the song "Forgiveness", which appeared on the band's previous  studio album, "Spirit Dancer". In 2015, Blackhawk released their seventh studio album, "Brothers Of The Southland." Dale Oliver, former touring member, returned to the band in January 2018 replacing Chris Anderson.