Showbiz Today

ANNOUNCER: Friday on SHOWBIZ, it's a fond farewell as we take you behind the scenes on Kathie Lee's last day with Regis. And he may be 12, but country singer Billy Gilman knows how to tug at the heart strings.

Showbiz Today

12-Year-Old Country Singer Billy Gilman is Veteran of Music Scene

SYDNEY: Eddie Murphy's "Nutty Professor" is back for seconds on the big screen. And 12-year-old singing sensation Billy Gilman shows us why he is the youngest selling artist on Billboard's country charts.

SYDNEY: Billy Gilman is a nine-year music veteran. The catch is, he is only 12 years old.

Bill Tush caught up with the talented country star on a recent trip in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): How about this guy knocking him dead here at Terna Nova (ph)? One of New York's finer Irish establishments, I might add. Billy Gilman, 12 years old, number one song on the country charts with "One Voice."

BILLY GILMAN, COUNTRY SINGER: Yes.

TUSH: How did all that happen?

GILMAN: Well, with the help of my managers and family and parents and -- they made it happen.

TUSH: Yes, but I understand at what? Three years old you started to sing.

GILMAN: Yes.

TUSH: And then your parents bought you a karaoke machine.

GILMAN: Yes, the whole process.

TUSH: The whole process. This guy is a veteran. Look at that. You have been in the business 12 -- well, nine years. That is pretty darn good.

GILMAN: Nine years.

TUSH: And you live in Rhode Island.

GILMAN: Yes.

TUSH: Which interests me, because you go from Rhode Island to Nashville.

GILMAN: Yes.

TUSH: And that is another path that is kind of hard to take.

GILMAN: Yes, I mean...

TUSH: How did they find out about you in the country music capital?

GILMAN: Well, when I was 8, my grandmother and mother took me to this local (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Her name is Angel Bicari (ph), and she introduced me to the right people at the right time and it all fell in place.

TUSH: And now you have this whole big band behind you.

GILMAN: Yes.

TUSH: Anyway, they tell me, in your spare time, which you don't have much of, you like to play golf.

GILMAN: I love to play golf.

TUSH: And you knocked your teeth out.

GILMAN: But the bad thing is I knocked my right front tooth out.

TUSH: You have to watch that stuff.

OK, you wanted a tour bus. Has that happened yet?

GILMAN: Yes, it has happened.

TUSH: What is in a tour bus, a 12-year-old guy's tour bus?

GILMAN: Well, it was funny because I was jumping in and out of the bunk beds, closing the doors, going in and out of the bathroom, running up and down to see how fast I could go and, like, at once, all at once, all my team said, "Billy, stop it, you are making us sea sick."

(LAUGHTER) TUSH: Well, you know the good thing about it is? You're doing all this stuff and you look like you are having fun doing it.

GILMAN: I am. I am having a blast.

TUSH: And I think that's what counts.

All right, tell us about "One Voice," and then we're going to hear you sing it for us.

GILMAN: Well, "One Voice" is basically about seeing the world's problems through a child's eyes, with all the guns, the violence in the schools, and hopefully this song will get all of the kids together and whip all of the violence out of the schools, because it is so painful and scary to know that you can't go to school by feeling safe. You can't go to school and feel safe and speak with your friends, you're always insecure. It's just really sad.

TUSH: So let's listen to the words.

GILMAN: OK.

TUSH: All right, Billy Gilman, we'll see you on all these award shows...

GILMAN: Thank you.

TUSH: Country Music Association Awards coming up and you might be nominated, we're keeping our fingers crossed for it, all right.

GILMAN: Thank you.

TUSH: Thanks for stopping by.

GILMAN: Thank you.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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