He was one of the biggest country artists of the early ’90s…and then he just kind of disappeared.
Ricky Van Shelton moved to Nashville from his native Virginia in the late 1980s, and released his debut album Wild-Eyed Dream in 1987. He had some modest success with his first two singles “Wild-Eyed Dream” and “Crime of Passion,” but scored his first #1 with his third single from the album, a cover of the Conway Twitty song “Somebody Lied.”
From there, Ricky would go on to be one of the most decorated artists of the early ’90s, racking up 10 #1 hits with songs like “Life Turned Her That Way” (another cover of a song originally recorded by Little Jimmy Dickens and later by Mel Tillis), “I’ll Leave This World Loving You,” “I’ve Cried My Last Tear For You,” and “Keep It Between the Lines.”
(Fun fact, Ricky Van Shelton was also the first country concert I ever went to – kind of: At the ripe age of 3 years old, I was a massive Patty Loveless fan, and she was opening for him during a show. Apparently I stood on my chair and sang along to every word of her set, and then promptly fell asleep during the headliner. Sorry Ricky).
Despite his massive success in the early ’90s, his fall on the charts came nearly as quickly as his rise. He had his last top-40 hit in 1994 with “Where I Was,” and that same year he parted with his record label – a move that effectively spelled the end for his time on the country charts.
His career was also marked by personal struggles: In 1992, Ricky admitted that he was struggling with alcoholism, a battle that came to a head on his tour bus which he described as a literal fight with the devil.
“All of a sudden there seemed to be a cloud floating above me. And then right in front of my eyes appeared what I can only describe as the face of the devil. It sounds unbelievable, but I know what I saw. That face kept coming closer and closer—ugly, overpowering, evil. I was terrified. The face was smirking, as if to say, “I’ve got you now, boy. You’re mine.” …
I heard words coming out of my mouth, strong and sure, as though they had been inside me all along just waiting for the chance to get out. “Maybe I can’t beat you,” I shouted, “but I know who can. God can beat you.” In an instant that devilish face recoiled with a look of pure terror. It shriveled up right before my eyes and was gone.”
He would go on to form his own record label in 1997, and released albums in 1998 and 2000, but he was never able to recapture the massive success from earlier in his career. And in 2006, Ricky announced that he was retiring from touring to spend more time with his family. In a letter from May 2006, he cited the desire of both him and wife Bettye to be closer to their family in Virginia as his reason for stepping away:
“We have decided that at this time, we need to be close to our families. As many of you know, most of our family is in Virginia. We’ve been away from what we have always called home for the past 20 years. During that time, we have lost my father and Bettye’s mother. We weren’t there for them, and we have always regretted not spending more time with them. We believe that we need to be in Virginia at this time. We want to be more involved with our immediate families and be available to them and their needs. I trust that most of you will understand.”
Since then though, Ricky Van Shelton has largely disappeared altogether: His last public interview came in 2005, and despite the massive resurgence of ’90s country music over the past decade or so, he apparently hasn’t felt the need or desire to try to capitalize on his massive popularity from the decade.
So what’s he been up to?
By all accounts, Ricky moved back to Virginia and stepped back into his private life. His website remained active for more than a decade – although it wasn’t updated after 2006 and served as a time capsule to the earlier days of the internet – but even that appears to have disappeared in recent years. The Grand Ole Opry website (he was inducted as a member in 1988) says that he “still manages to keep himself busy” as a “painter, pilot, collector and author.”
According to the FAA website, Ricky first got his pilots license back in 2003 while still living in Nashville, though it doesn’t appear that the public record has been updated since then.
He also released several children’s books back in the early ’90s, featuring a duck named Quacker, but it doesn’t appear that he’s released any new books since his retirement – at least not under his real name.
His wife Bettye, however, maintains an active social media presence which gives us clues into his now-private life. Bettye public Facebook page focuses on health and wellness, but sometimes shares photos of her private life, including one of her country star husband from back in February surrounded by family:
Ultimately, we don’t really have much information about what Ricky Van Shelton is up to these days, other than living a quiet life in Virginia with his family, just the way he wanted. But if he ever decides that he wants to chat about what he’s been up to for the past two decades, my inbox is wide open.
