"I'm Gonna Be Somebody" is a song written by Jill Colucci

Jill Colucci

Jill Colucci is an American songwriter and vocalist. She initially rose to prominence in 1988, singing the main scores to the film Mystic Pizza. She sang the ABC promo campaigns Something's Happening and America's Watching ABC...

 and Stewart Harris, and recorded by country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist Travis Tritt

Travis Tritt

James Travis Tritt is an American country music singer from Marietta, Georgia. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 2000s, he released two albums on Columbia Records and one for the defunct...

. It is the third single released from his 1990 debut album Country Club

Country Club (album)

Country Club is the American artist Travis Tritt's debut album, released on Warner Bros. Records in February 1990. The tracks "Country Club", "I'm Gonna Be Somebody", "Help Me Hold On", "Drift Off to Dream", and "Put Some Drive in Your Country" were released as singles...

. It reached #2 in the United States, while it became his second number-one hit in Canada.

Content

The song is a moderate up-tempo describing an aspiring young singer named Bobby. In the first verse, he is described as playing at small local venues while saying that he is "gonna be somebody someday." After ten years, he is "Number One on the stage and radio" but still recalls his early years. In the final verse, he is playing a venue in his hometown, when he hears the "voice in the front row" of another aspiring singer who also claims that he is "gonna be somebody someday."

Personnel

The following musicians play on this track:

• Mike Brignardello – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Larry Byrom
  Larry Byrom
  Larry Byrom is an American guitarist who has written, recorded, and toured with acts like Steppenwolf, Ratchell, Neil Young, Steve Winwood, Peter Frampton, Eddie Rabbit and Tanya Tucker.- References :...
  
   – acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  
• Wendell Cox – electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
   solo
• Paul Franklin
  Paul Franklin (musician)
  Paul Franklin is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly for his work as a steel guitarist. He began his career in the 1970s as a member of Barbara Mandrell's road band; in addition he toured with Mel Tillis and Jerry Reed. He has since become a prolific session musician in Nashville,...
  
   – pedal steel guitar
  Pedal steel guitar
  The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
  
  , lap steel guitar
  Lap steel guitar
  The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
  
  
• Jack Holder – electric guitar
• Dana McVicker
  Dana McVicker
  Dana McVicker is an American country music artist. She recorded for Capitol Records Nashville in 1988, releasing a self-titled album and charting four singles on the U.S. country charts. McVicker was also nominated for Best New Female Artist at the 1988 Academy of Country Music awards, losing to...
  
   – background vocals
• Mark O'Connor
  Mark O'Connor
  Mark O'Connor is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition...
  
   – fiddle
  Fiddle
  The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
  
  
• Bobby Ogdin – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  
• Jim "Jimmy Joe" Ruggierre – harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  
• Steve Turner – drums, percussion
• Reggie Young
  Reggie Young
  Reggie Young was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studios Band , and is a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, J.J...
  
  – electric guitar

Chart positions

Chart (1990)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1