Doug Supernaw

Doug Supernaw (September 26, 1960 – November 13, 2020) was an American country musician best known for his 1993 hits "Reno" and "I Don't Call Him Daddy." 

After several years of performing as a local musician throughout the state of Texas, he signed with BNA Records in 1993, releasing his debut album that year.

Supernaw has released four studio albums: Red and Rio Grande (1993), Deep Thoughts from a Shallow Mind (1994), You Still Got Me (1995), and Fadin' Renegade (1999), as well as a compilation album, 1997's The Encore Collection. Between 1993 and 1996, he charted eleven singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts, including "I Don't Call Him Daddy", a Number One single in late 1993.

Doug Supernaw was born as Douglas Anderson Supernaw on September 26, 1960, in Bryan, Texas. He grew up in Inwood Forest and was an avid golfer and member of his high school golf team. His mother, a fan of country music, exposed him to acts such as George Jones and Gene Watson, by whose works he would later be influenced. Supernaw later attended college on a golfing scholarship. 

After dropping out of college in 1979, Supernaw briefly worked on an oil rig before serving as a musician in local bands. In 1987, to pursue a career in music, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he found work as a session songwriter. 

After four years in Nashville, he moved back to Texas, where he founded a band called Texas Steel.

1993–1995: BNA Records

An A&R executive for RCA Records discovered Supernaw and signed him to the label's BNA Entertainment (now BNA Records) division in 1993. That year, Supernaw released his debut album, Red and Rio Grande. Overall, four singles were released from the album, starting with "Honky Tonkin' Fool", which failed to enter Top 40 on the Billboard country music charts. "Reno", the second single, reached Top 5 soon afterward, while its follow-up, "I Don't Call Him Daddy" (previously a No. 86 single in 1988 for Kenny Rogers), became Supernaw's only Number One single by the end of the year. The album went on to achieve gold certification in the United States.

A series of injuries nearly ended Supernaw's career after his first album's release. After recovering from a broken neck suffered while surfing, he was involved in a head-on car collision. Finally, he was hospitalized after a nearly-fatal case of food poisoning. Once he had recovered from the food poisoning, he recorded his second album for BNA, 1994's Deep Thoughts from a Shallow Mind. Of the album's three singles, only the Dennis Linde-penned "What'll You Do About Me" (previously a single in 1984 for Steve Earle, and in 1992 for The Forester Sisters) entered Top 40 on the country music charts. Shortly after the second album's release, he exited BNA's roster.

1995–1999: Final Albums

In 1995, he was signed to Giant Records, where he recorded and released his third major-label album, You Still Got Me, in 1996. Although its first single, "Not Enough Hours in the Night", reached a peak of No. 3 on the country singles charts, neither of the album's other singles reached Top 40, and he left Giant Records not long afterward. 

He also made an appearance on Stars and Stripes Vol. 1, a 1997 compilation album issued by The Beach Boys, featuring the Beach Boys performing their own songs along with other country music artists; Supernaw contributed to the track "Long Tall Texan". His first compilation album, entitled The Encore Collection, was issued by Sony BMG Special Products in 1997.

Supernaw's third and final recording contract was with the small, independent Tack label, on which he released Fadin' Renegade on August 31, 1999. The album's two singles, the title track and "21–17", both failed to enter the country music charts, although the latter song's music video gained popularity on the television networks CMT and GAC.

Later years

Supernaw returned to music in 2016 in local venues in his home state of Texas. Also returning to the recording studio in 2017 on the independent B&G Records label, Supernaw re-recorded his hits as Greatest Hits, which was released on April 1, 2017. The album included two new songs: "Here's My Heart" and "The Company I Keep."

Legal troubles

Supernaw was arrested on his 42nd birthday (September 2002) after he allegedly attacked five officers during a scuffle outside a Brenham, Texas, bar. "He was supposedly causing a disturbance inside and supposedly he caused a problem with the bouncer and some other patrons," Brenham police detective Sgt. Daniel Gaskamp told The Banner-Press of Brenham.

In March 2005, Supernaw was arrested in Bryan, Texas, and charged with public intoxication and fleeing from an officer.

In November 2006, he was arrested on a drug possession charge.

Supernaw was committed to a mental institution on July 2, 2007, per a ruling by a Brazos County, Texas judge, after making bizarre statements in court, including claims of a "political economic conspiracy" against him, international kidnapping, being used as a marijuana "test monkey" by the government, and other wild accusations.

Supernaw was arrested by the Livingston, Texas Police Department on the evening of June 5, 2015, for public intoxication. He was booked into the Polk County Jail and released on June 6, 2015.

Supernaw was married to Cissy Allen. They had at least one Phillip Supernaw (born 30 January 1990), who plays football for the Tennessee Titans.

Supernaw announced on February 4, 2019, that he had been diagnosed with stage IV lung and bladder cancer. He died at his home on November 13, 2020, at age 60.

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Other charted songs

Music videos