John Hiatt

Hiatt started out as a staff songwriter at a publishing company in Nashville. In 1974, Three Dog Night had a minor hit with his song "Sure As I'm Sittin' Here." That same year, he released his debut album, Hangin' Around the Observatory.

Hiatt is well respected among songwriters and musicians, with many high-profile musicians recording his songs. Bob Dylan covered Hiatt's song "The Usual" for the soundtrack of the 1987 movie Hearts Of Fire; Bonnie Raitt covered his "Thing Called Love" on her 1989 comeback album Nick Of Time. Other luminaries to record his songs include Willie Nelson ("(The) Most Unoriginal Sin"), The Everly Brothers ("Any Single Solitary Heart") and The Neville Brothers ("Washable Ink"). Rosanne Cash had a #1 Country hit in 1987 with a song Hiatt wrote called "The Way We Make A Broken Heart."

Hiatt was overweight when he was younger - about 260 pounds when he was 12. He lost the weight when he started drinking, but that led to a host of other problems. After years as a functional alcoholic, it caught up to him in the '80s, affecting his music and his health. He finally went to rehab and got sober in 1985.