Todd David Cerney (August 8, 1953 – March 14, 2011) was an American songwriter and musician.Profile at Todd Cerney official website
He composed "Good Morning Beautiful", a 2002 five-week country number one (Billboard) hit for Steve Holy (co-written with Zack Lyle); "The Blues Is My Business" (co-written with Kevin Bowe), part of Etta James' 2003 Grammy Award-winning album "Let's Roll"; and "I'll Still Be Loving You", a 1987 country number one (Billboard) hit for Restless Heart (co-written with Pam Rose, Mary Ann Kennedy, and Pat Bunch). He and his co-writers were nominated for a Grammy Award for "I'll Still Be Loving You".1988 Grammy Awards The song won the 1988 award for "ASCAP Country Song of the Year".
Cerney was born in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Zanesville High School in Zanesville, Ohio in 1971. He began his song-writing career after moving to Nashville, where he initially worked at Buzz Cason's Creative Workshop recording studio as an audio engineer. Some of the earliest artists to record his songs include Steve Carlisle ("I'll Fall in Love Again") and Levon Helm ("Blue House of Broken Hearts").
Music career Cerney became known as the "Rock Doctor" after co-writing songs with members of various bands including Cheap Trick, Eddie Money, Loverboy and Bad English. Popular artists to record his compositions include Aretha Franklin (with the Four Tops) "If Ever A Love There Was" (part of the soundtrack for the film "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" – the song hit the top 40 in both the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts (Billboard)), John Anderson's "Till I Get Used to the Pain" and Ty Herndon's "No Mercy", which peaked at #26 on the Billboard Country Music charts.
In 1988 Cerney traveled to Russia as one of 28 songwriters who participated in the Music Speaks Louder Than Words project – a collaboration between American and Soviet songwriters which included Michael Bolton and Cyndi Lauper. During his two weeks in Russia he cowrote the songs "Speak to My Heart" (performed by Phoebe Snow) and "Don't Stop Now" (performed by The Cover Girls, music by Viktor Reznikov).
In October 2009, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton reunited for the first time in 25 years to sing "Tell Me That You Love Me," a duet that Cerney co-wrote. The song was featured in Rogers' three-CD box set "Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years" on Time-Life Records.Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton Reunite In 2010, American Idol runner-up Bo Bice included a song he co-wrote with Cerney, "Keep on Rollin'," on his "3" album.
Cerney played guitar, mandolin, harmonica, keyboards and sang lead and backing vocals with various artists including backing vocals for Kenny Rogers and Levon Helm, mandolin for the Dixie Chicks and the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble and a full range of instruments for various songwriter groups including Thom Shepherd & the Nashville Songwriters Band. He also worked with three former members of the soft-rock band Bread – Jimmy Griffin, Robb Royer and Larry Knechtel – forming "Toast" (later renamed "Radio Dixie") during the mid-1990s, recording a number of songs for an album release that remained unfinished.
Death Cerney was diagnosed with melanoma in November 2010, following a brain seizure. He died at age 57 in Nashville, Tennessee on March 14, 2011.Notice of Cerney's deathObituary & blog-The Nashville Tennessean
Chart Singles Written by Todd Cerney
The following is a list of Todd Cerney compositions that were chart hits. Year Single Title Recording Artist Chart Positions Billboard Hot 100 Billboard AC Billboard Country Billboard R&B Billboard Rock 1986 "Too Late" co-written with Nancy Montgomery The Kendalls 42 1987 "I'll Still Be Loving You" co-written with Bunch, Kennedy, and Rose Restless Heart 33 3 1 1987 "Notorious" co-written with Bon Jovi, Dean, Reno, and Sambora Loverboy 38 8 1988 "Let Go"T. Cerney's Top songs and Chart Singles Discography co-written with Rick Nielsen Cheap Trick 35 1988 "If Ever a Love There Was" co-written with Pamela Phillips Oland Four Tops 26 31 1989 "Forget About Love" co-written with Money, Whitlock, and Zito Eddie Money 36 1991 "Don't Stop Now" co-written with Harold Payne and Victor Reznikof The Cover Girls 63 2000 "No Mercy" co-written with Dennis Morgan and Stephen Allen Davis Ty Herndon 92 26 2001 "Good Morning Beautiful"Todd Cerney's Top songs and Chart Singles Discography co-written with Zack Lyle Steve Holy 29 1
Awards Year Song Award Category Result 1988 I'll Still Be Loving You Grammy Awards Best Country/Western Song 1988 I'll Still Be Loving You ASCAP Country Song of the Year 2002 Good Morning Beautiful ASCAP Most Performed Song from a Motion Picture 2003 Good Morning Beautiful ASCAP Country Song of the Year
References