Sharon Vaughn

Sharon Vaughn
Birth name	Mary Sharon Vaughn
Also known as	Sharon Rice, Sharon Bellamy
Origin	Orlando, Florida, United States
Genres	Pop, rock, country
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, Musician, Producer
Years active	1973-present
Labels	Cinnamon, Dot, BMG
Associated acts	Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Kenny Rogers, Kate Ryan, Agnes Carlsson, Boyzone, Namie Amuro

Mary Sharon Vaughn is a Stockholm based American musician, songwriter and producer. She has written hits for artists such as Willie Nelson, Agnes, Kate Ryan, Boyzone, Namie Amuro and September. During 2014, Vaughn competed as the songwriter of three songs in Melodifestivalen.

Vaughn moved to Nashville, Tennessee in her early 20s. In 1974, she charted two singles for Cinnamon Records: a duet with Narvel Felts titled "Until the End of Time", and "Never a Night Goes By". A year later, she signed with Dot Records and released a third single, "You and Me, Me and You". She was also the lead singer in the Lea Jane Singers, and worked with the Jordanaires, the Nashville Edition and The Holladay Sisters.

Vaughn’s first song was "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys", that was first recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1976 and further popularized in 1980 by Willie Nelson for the soundtrack of the movie The Electric Horseman. Since then she has worked with country artists such as Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Tanya Tucker and Kenny Rogers and she has been nominated for The Nashville Songwriters Foundation's Hall Of Fame three times.

Vaughn was formerly married to songwriter Bill Rice, and later to Howard Bellamy of The Bellamy Brothers.

In 2009 the song Release Me by (Agnes) reached #1 on the U.S Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart. The song was later credited in the motion picture Pitch Perfect.

She has worked with several Swedish Idol artists including the winner Jay Smith (2010) and a number one hit for Ola. She has also worked with many Scandinavian songwriters and artists including Mutt Lange, Tony Nilsson, Vendela, Anders Hanson, Emilia, Måns Zelmerlöw, Robin Stjernberg, Helena Paparizou and Shirley Clamp and had several songs in the Swedish Eurovision Song contest. She has also co-written songs with Ian Dench, and worked together with Jonas Quant.

In 2010 Vaughn co-wrote with Carl Falk and Don Mescall for Boyzone’s 4th studio album Brother. The album peaked at No 1 in the UK and received platinum status. The same year she also co-wrote “Waterline” that Jedward competed with in The Eurovision Song Contest, as well as the winner song for the Swedish Idol.

2012 Vaughn worked with the Japanese singer Namie Amuro when writing the song “Only You” and in 2013 she received the Jasrac Awards as #1 of the Top 10 Foreign Works for her co-written song "Rising Sun" (Exile).

Vaughn wrote 6 songs for Sunrise Avenue’s 2013 album “Unholy Ground” and the song “Tangled Vine” for Andreas Moe.

In 2016 Vaughn competed once again in the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest with the song “We Are Your Tomorrow” performed by David Lindgren, and co-wrote the song “Smoke” for the PRMD-artist Didrick and the Swedish Idol 2012 winner Amanda Fondell.

In 2016 Vaughn wrote the lyrics for the play “Sweet Potatoe Queen” set up on the TUTS Underground Theater in Houston, Texas.

Charted singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions
		US Country
1974	"Until the End of Time" (with Narvel Felts)	39
	"Never a Night Goes By"	96
1975	"You and Me, Me and You"	99