DiPiero was born in the steel-manufacturing center of Youngstown, Ohio. His family moved to the suburban township of
Liberty, Ohio. DiPiero graduated from
Liberty High School (Ohio) in 1969.[1] He graduated from Youngstown State University's Dana School of Music. He participated in hard rock bands in northeastern Ohio throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1979, DiPiero moved to
Nashville. He worked as a session player and traveling musician, then moved into songwriting.[1]
Songwriting career
DiPiero's first number one hit as a songwriter was 1983's "American Made" by
The Oak Ridge Boys; it also became a national advertisements jingle for
Miller Beer and
Baby Ruth candybar.[2] Since then, DiPiero co-wrote countless hit singles for other country music artists, with 15 of his songs reaching No. 1 on the country music charts.[3] In 1995 and 1996, he received the Triple Play award from the
Country Music Association for 3 number one singles charted in each of those years. In addition, he has 36 awards from
BMI for his contributions as a songwriter.[3][4] He was also one third of the country music supergroup
Billy Hill; members included
Dennis Robbins and
John Scott Sherrill.
He helped make Nashville a port-of-call for legendary performers from all genres, writing with Neil Diamond, Carole King, Johnny Van Zant, and Delbert McClinton, among many others.
At one point, DiPiero was married to country music artist
Pam Tillis, the daughter of singer
Mel Tillis. The couple divorced. On June 18, 2006, he married music publisher, Leslie Tomasino.[5]
1984: Music City News Top Country Hit of the Year- "American Made-The Oak Ridge Boys"
1990: NSAI Award for Superior Creativity-"The Church On Cumberland Road-Shenandoah"
1993: NSAI Award for Superior Creativity-"Cleopatra, Queen of Denial-Pam Tillis"
1994: The Songwriters Guild Of America in recognition of the success of the hit song "Wink-Neal McCoy"
1994: NSAI Award for Superior Creativity-"Walking Away A Winner-
Kathy Mattea"
1995: CMA Triple Play Award (Three No. 1 songs in a 12-month period) "Wink-
Neal McCoy," "Take Me As I Am-
Faith Hill," Till You Love Me-
Reba McEntire"
1995: BMI Robert J. Burton Award Most Performed Country Song of the Year-"Wink-
Neal McCoy"
1996: CMA Triple Play Award (Three No. 1 songs in a 12-month period) "Blue Clear Sky-
George Strait," "Daddy's Money-
Ricochet," "World's Apart-
Vince Gill"
1997: Country Music Radio Awards – Song of the Year ("Worlds Apart" by
Vince Gill)
1998: Nashville Music Awards – Songwriter of the Year
2000: Sony / A TV, Nashville – Songwriter of the Year.[6]
2001: BMI 50 Most Performed Songs of the Year
2004: BMI 50 Most Performed Songs of the Year-"Cowboy's Like Us-
George Strait" "You Can't Take The Honky Tonk Out Of The Girl-
Brooks & Dunn"