View Goodrum's Odyssey medal acceptance speech.
Randy Goodrum is a songwriter who has penned numerous major hits in all areas of music including pop, rock, a/c, R&B, and country.
Randy was born in Hot Springs, Ark. He and his wife, Gail, met at Hendrix. They now reside in Franklin, Tenn. They have two daughters, Julia and Sarah.
His songs include "I'll Be Over You" (Toto), "Bluer Than Blue" (Michael Johnson), “A Lesson in Leavin’” (Dottie West, re-recorded by Jo Dee Messina), "A Broken Hearted Me" (Anne Murray), “Oh Sherrie” and "Foolish Heart" (Steve Perry), "If She Would Have Been Faithful" (Chicago), “It’s True Love” (Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty), and "Who's Holding Donna Now" (El DeBarge).
Anne Murray won the Grammy for Best Female Vocal with Randy’s song “You Needed Me.” The song was also nominated for song of the year. In addition, “You Need Me” was awarded song of the year from the Academy of Country Music, The National Music Publishers Association and The Nashville Songwriters Association. The song was in the Top 10 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Songs of the Decade and was awarded one of the Top Ten Country ASCAP Songs of the 20th Century. A remake was done of the song by Boyzone in 1999, which reached #1 in Europe.
Goodrum has received numerous other awards including Arkansan of the Year award from the Arkansas Broadcasters Association, Governor’s Award for special merit, 1981 ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year, and 1997 President’s Choice Award from the Nashville Songwriter’s Association International for meritorious service toward the songwriting community. Randy is a 1996 inductee to the Arkansas Entertainment Hall of Fame and a 2000 inductee to the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame. His song “So Soft, Your Goodbye” won a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance (Chet Atkins and Mark Knoffler), and “What’re We Doin in Love” won a Grammy Awarded for Best Country Duo (Dottie West and Kenny Rogers).