Tim DuBois

Tim DuBois
in Nashville, October 17, 2019
Born
James Timothy DuBois

(1948-05-04) May 4, 1948 (age 76)
Southwest City, Missouri, U.S.
Alma materOklahoma State University
Occupations
Years active1977–present
SpousePamela S DuBois
ChildrenJamie Grace DuBois

James Timothy DuBois (born May 4, 1948) is an American accountant, songwriter, and recording industry executive based in Nashville. He has headed both Arista Records and Universal South Records,[1] and as a songwriter, he has written five No. 1 country hits, including "Love in the First Degree" which was a world-wide hit recorded by the group Alabama.[2]

DuBois started playing guitar in bands as a youth. He received three academic scholarships to Oklahoma State University (OSU) to study accounting, earned two advanced degrees, and worked as a senior financial analyst for the Texas Federal Reserve Bank.[3] He also worked for Arthur Andersen.[4] While pursuing his PhD, DuBois became interested in country music and began writing songs. This eventually led him to move to Nashville to pursue music. Writing successful songs led him to become a record producer, creating over 20 No. 1 and top five singles and more than a dozen gold, platinum, and double-platinum country albums. He founded the musical group Restless Heart in 1984, and Clive Davis hired him in 1989 to establish a Nashville office of Arista Records.[5] He discovered and signed country artists Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, The Tractors, Brad Paisley, Blackhawk, Pam Tillis and Diamond Rio.[6]

DuBois was known as the "most powerful person in the music industry" by Business Nashville in 1996, "Record Executive of the Year" in 1992 by Pollstar, and was included in Entertainment Weekly's list of the "101 Most Powerful People in Entertainment" in 1994 and 1995. He is a member of Oklahoma State University's Hall of Fame (1996) and was the school's Accounting Alumnus of the year (1992).

  1. ^ "Universal South launches eb & flo Records". bizjournals.com. Nashville Business Journal. October 9, 2002. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  2. ^ "The story of a song: Love in the First Degree - Alabama". CMF Radio. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  3. ^ Stillwater, Oklahoma State University; Campus, OK 74078; Maps744-5000, Parking (December 2, 2019). "Sound Connection - Oklahoma State University". news.okstate.edu. Retrieved July 6, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Tim DuBois, Class of 2024". oklahomahof.com. Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  5. ^ "Tim DuBois". The Quest Center. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  6. ^ "Spears School Tributes: 100 for 100/Tim DuBois DuBois married Pamela Smith from Texas in 1991. They have one daughter, Jamie Grace DuBois". Business.okstate.edu. Oklahoma State University. November 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2019.