Bill Engvall was born in Galveston, Texas, on July 27th, 1957. While he was growing up, Bill's family moved around a lot and, when he was in third grade, his parents divorced. He found being funny was way to take his mind off of his family troubles. After finishing college, Bill moved to Dallas to worked as a deejay in a nightclub. He decided while in Dallas that he would take a stab at stand-up comedy and began doing shows at the Dallas Comedy Corner. After two years of perfecting his skills, he moved to Los Angeles where his new career would take off.
In the early 90's he appeared in a Showtime special with Rosie O'Donnell called A Pair Of Jokers. He also hosted A&E's Evening At The Improv and was a guest on the Tonight Show. In 1992 he earned the role of 'Buck Overton' in the ABC sitcom Delta and appeared on Designing Women and Golden Palace. Also in 1992, he won an American Comedy Award for the Best Male Stand-Up Comedian.
In 1996, Jeff Foxworthy introduced him to some people at Warner Reprise Records in Nashville. They soon signed him to a lucrative contract. Later that year he released his debut album, Here's Your Sign, which was recorded in Royal Oak, Michigan at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle. Rather quickly the album reached gold status. Throughout the rest of that year, Bill played shows with John Michael Montgomery and Reba McEntire. He was also enlisted to play the role of 'Bill Belton' on NBC's Jeff Foxworthy Show.
Bill followed in the footsteps of Foxworthy, releasing a song in 1997 accompanied by a country star. 'Here's Your Sign (Get The Picture),' was recorded with Travis Tritt and made the top 30 on the country chart, the top 50 on the pop chart and was certified gold after just a couple of months. Engvall went on to record three more albums, Dorkfish in 1998, Here's your Christmas Album in 1999 and in 2000 Now That's Awesome. Also in 2000, Foxworthy, Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, and Ron White took their four man show on the road as 'The Blue Collar Comedy Tour,' claiming laughs, a ton of recognition and cable specials along the way.
In 2002 Bill released his album, Cheap Drunk. Soon after he received word the WB Network would be producing a show with Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy, and Larry The Cable Guy called Common Ground. The show would be a mix of stand-up, sitcom and sketch comedy, an idea spawned by writers of In Living Color and Mad TV. In 2004 Engvall has embarked on a heavy solo tour schedule, released a new album, Here's Your Sign Reloaded, and has filmed his first solo concert to be released on DVD. Engvall has solo shows scheduled throughout the U.S. for 2004, and will continue to participate in the Blue Collar Tour as well.
