The first country artist to have two albums to go platinum on the same day was Oklahoma City’s own Bryan White.
In 1994, after graduating from Putnam City West High School, White was signed to Asylum Records at age 20.
While he charted six number one hits as a solo artist, his chart-topping duet with Shaina Twain is perhaps his most famous song. Recorded in 1998, “From This Moment On” has played at as many weddings as it has country dance halls.
White still remembers exactly how the partnership with Twain unfolded, starting with a call that jolted him awake. “I was asleep on the tour bus in Chicago. It was the era before cell phones,” White said. “We had this analog phone on our bus that we only used for emergencies. We got a call on it. My tour manager came and woke me up and said, ‘You need to get up.’ ‘I said, ‘What for?’ He said, ‘Just get up, you need to get up… Mutt Lange and Shania Twain are on the phone.’ I was clearing my throat and trying to wrap my mind around why I was talking to Shania Twain and Mutt Lange at 9 o’clock in the morning. For me, back then, 9 o’clock in the morning was ungodly early!”
Twain said she chose White because he was her favorite male country singer. Their song became not only a big US market hit, but also scoring high on charts throughout the world. Their video would consistently be played on CMT due to popular demand.
In addition to selling more than five million albums worldwide, White has won a Grammy, CMA, and an ACM award. In 2015, he received a major career resurgence with “God Gave Me You,” a song originally recorded in 1999 that began topping charts in the Philippines.
White also found success writing songs for other top country artists, including Wynonna Judd, Diamond Rio, Sawyer Brown, Joe Diffie, and LeAnn Rimes. His song “Imagine That” became a Top 5 smash for Diamond Rio in 1997.
This fall, White will celebrate his 26th wedding anniversary to actress Erika Page White. Erika is known for her roles on soap operas like, “One Life to Live” and appeared with Bryan on “The Private Lives of Nashville Wives.” They had two sons, Justin and Jackson.
The younger son, Jackson, has recently been following in his father’s footsteps by releasing songs online. In 2024, he made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry performing with his dad. This year he appeared on American Idol with a Golden Ticket.
Although he was born in Lawton, White grew up in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City/County Historical Society is bestowing their prestigious Pathmaker Award to him this month. “This is in recognition of not only his amazing contributions to music, but also for having used his celebrity to help so many wonderful causes all over the United States,” said society board member Kala Beard.
White will be in attendance, along with his wife, to receive his award and the public will be able to visit with him following the ceremony.
The luncheon banquet ceremony will be held Tuesday, April 14th at 11:30AM at the Champion Event Center 737 S Meridian Ave. Tickets can be purchased at www.okchistory.com
The entire interview of Bryan White can be seen on the SHINE on Oklahoma Music YouTube channel.
Brian Maughan serves as Oklahoma County Commissioner, Dist 2 and does a series of interviews with Oklahoma music stars for the Oklahoma History Center called SHINE on Oklahoma Music.
This article appears in Celebrating 60 years of the Festival of Arts!.