Sharon Vaughn’s first songwriting hit was a career maker: “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.” It appeared in 1976 on country music’s first certified platinum album, Wanted! The Outlaws, sung by Waylon Jennings. Four years later, Willie Nelson’s version went to #1 when it was included in the soundtrack to the film The Electric Horseman. Vaughn hails from Orlando, Florida. She was discovered by fellow Floridian Mel Tillis and she moved to Nashville in 1969 to pursue a singing career. During the 1970s Vaughn released her own singles on several labels, including ABC/Dot, while juggling studio work as a vocalist. Vaughn’s songwriting credits include the Oak Ridge Boys’ breakthrough country hit, “Y’All Come Back Saloon,” Reba McEntire’s “I’m Not That Lonely Yet,” the Lorrie Morgan-Keith Whitley duet “’Til a Tear Becomes a Rose,” Patty Loveless’s “Lonely Too Long,” and Randy Travis’s “Out of My Bones.” Today, Vaughn splits time between Orlando and Stockholm, and she has had success writing for international pop stars. In 2009 her song “Release Me,” recorded by Swedish singer Agnes, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart.
