Kostas (songwriter)

Kostas
Kostas
	Kostas in 2016.
Background information
Birth name	Kostas Lazarides
Born	April 14, 1949 (age 75); Thessaloniki, Greece
Origin	Billings, Montana, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupation	Songwriter
Years active	1989-present
Labels	Liberty

Kostas Lazarides (Greek: Κώστας Λαζαρίδης; born April 14, 1949) is a Greek-born American country music songwriter, known professionally as Kostas. He has written for several country music artists, including Dwight Yoakam, Patty Loveless, George Strait, and Travis Tritt, and has won eleven awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI).^[3] In addition, he has recorded a self-titled album Kostas on First American Records (1980) and an album entitled X S in Moderation on Liberty Records (1994). He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019.

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Biography

Kostas Lazarides was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. When he was seven years old, he and his family moved to the United States, taking up residence in Billings, Montana.^[4] Lazarides eventually began identifying himself by the singular name Kostas.^[4]

Musical career

Kostas performed in Montana as a singer and songwriter throughout the 1980s. Eventually, he was discovered by record producer Tony Brown, who was searching for new material for country singer Patty Loveless. Kostas' first cut as a songwriter, "Timber, I'm Falling in Love", was recorded by Loveless; released as a single in 1989, it went to number one on the Billboard country charts, becoming Loveless's first number one hit.^[3] She would also release three more of his songs as singles: "The Lonely Side of Love" (1989), "On Down the Line" (1990), and "Blame It On Your Heart" (1993). "Blame It on Your Heart" also earned BMI's Robert J. Burton award for being the most performed single of 1994.^[5]

Dwight Yoakam also recorded several songs written by Kostas, including "Nothing's Changed Here", "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose", and "Send a Message to My Heart" (a duet with Loveless), all of which were released as singles from Yoakam's 1990 album If There Was a Way.^[4] Yoakam's 1993 album, This Time, included another song co-written by Kostas: the single "Ain't That Lonely Yet", which earned Yoakam a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance - Male in 1994.^[4] During the early 1990s, Kostas also wrote singles for McBride & the Ride, Travis Tritt, Holly Dunn, Martina McBride, and The Mavericks.^[3]^[4]

CCMA and Juno Award-winning Canadian country music group Prairie Oyster recorded songs written by Kostas on two of their most popular albums. As a result, Kostas developed a sizable following in Canada, which has enabled him to tour and perform in several provinces.

In 1980, Kostas released a self-titled album on First American Records.

In 1994, Kostas signed to Liberty Records as a recording artist. X S in Moderation, was released that year.^[4] The album, which included his own renditions of the singles that he had written, was part of a special songwriters' series by Liberty.^[1]