About Neal McCoy
Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. , known professionally as Neal McCoy and previously as Neal McGoy, is an American country music singer. He has released 10 studio albums on various labels, and has released 34 singles to country radio. Although he first charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1988, he did not reach the top 40 for the first time until 1992's "Where Forever Begins", which peaked at number 40. McCoy broke through two years later with the back-to-back number one singles "No Doubt About It" and "Wink" from his platinum-certified album No Doubt About It. Although he has not topped the country charts since, his commercial success continued into the mid to late 1990s with two more platinum albums and a gold album, as well as six more top 10 hits. A ninth top 10 hit, the number 10 "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On", came in 2005 from his self-released That's Life.
Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. was born on July 30, 1958, in Jacksonville, Texas, to a Filipino-American mother and Irish-American father. Inspired by the variety of music that his parents listened to, which included country, rock, disco and R&B, McGaughey first sang in his church choir before founding an R&B band. He later switched his focus to country music, performing in various bars and clubs in Texas. McGaughey, after attending junior college near his hometown, found work selling shoes at a shopping mall. In the early 1980s, he met his wife, Melinda, at the store.
After winning a 1981 talent contest hosted by Janie Fricke, he secured a spot as an opening act for Charley Pride.
Crediting himself as Neal McGoy, a phonetic spelling of his surname, he signed to the independent 16th Avenue Records label in 1988. He released the singles "That's How Much I Love You" and "That's American", and although the former reached No. 85 on the country charts, he did not release an album for the label. He continued to tour as an opening act for Pride until 1990, the same year that the 16th Avenue label closed.
He then signed to Atlantic Records in 1990, changing his surname to McCoy per the label's request, as fans had already begun to refer to him as McCoy. His debut album, At This Moment, was released that year. None of the three singles made the country Top 40, although the lead-off single "If I Built You a Fire" was a Top 20 country hit in Canada. The other two releases were the title track, a cover of Billy Vera and the Beaters' #1 Hot 100 hit from late 1986-early 1987, and "This Time I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me", which was co-written by Earl Thomas Conley and originally recorded by Conway Twitty. McCoy continued touring and developed a "reputation for exciting, freewheeling live shows."
A second album for Atlantic, Where Forever Begins, followed in 1992. This album produced his first American Top 40 country hit in its No. 40-peaking title track, followed by "There Ain't Nothin' I Don't Like About You" at No. 57, and "Now I Pray for Rain" at No. 26. The album was also his first entry on Top Country Albums, at No. 58.
Working with producer Barry Beckett for the first time, McCoy released his breakthrough album, No Doubt About It, in 1994. The album produced his only number 1 country hits in its title track and "Wink", both of which also made minor entries on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America and gold certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association . Its final single was "The City Put the Country Back in Me" at No. 5.
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