Since becoming popular in the 1980s, Dwight David Yoakam, who was born in Pikeville, Kentucky, has recorded more than twenty-one albums and compilations, has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and sold more than 25 million records.
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During his high school years in Columbus, Ohio, Dwight excelled in both music and drama, regularly securing the lead role in school plays. Yoakam sang and played guitar with local garage bands, and frequently entertained his friends and classmates. Yoakam briefly attended Ohio State University, but dropped out and moved to Nashville hoping to become a recording artist. 
Since his sound and style of music was different from what was popular - new Honky Tonk or "Hillbilly" music as Dwight called it - eventually he headed West to Los Angeles.
In LA, Yoakam wrote all his own songs, and continuing to perform mostly outside traditional country music channels, performing in rock and punk clubs around Los Angeles. This helped him diversify his audience well beyond the typical country music fans, and his authentic, groundbreaking music is often credited with rock audiences accepting country music.
Johnny Cash once named Yoakam as his favorite country singer.
Yoakam has also starred in many films, most notably in critically acclaimed performances as an abusive alcoholic in Sling Blade , as a sociopathic killer in Panic Room, and as the sheriff in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. He has also appeared in Southern California live theater.
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