Meet Hayden

Hayden began playing guitar at the age of nine in Houston, Texas. He played in various bands through the 1960s and 1970s, taught guitar lessons for more than a decade, and built his own recording studio in 1974. After moving his studio to California in the early 1980s, Hayden returned to Houston where he met Clint Black in 1986 and made a deal to cut demos for the young singer/songwriter who was performing in local bars and looking for a record deal.

It was during this project that the two began performing and writing songs together. This songwriting collaboration became Clint’s first album, “Killin' Time.” The first single, "A Better Man" went to number one. The next four singles also went to number one, while the album rose to the top of Billboard’s Top 100 and stayed their for twenty seven weeks, selling over three million copies.

Since that time Hayden and Clint have co-written nearly 100 songs. Fourteen of their singles have been "Number Ones." Hayden has also performed on most of Clint’s numerous concert and television performances, as well as playing guitar on all of Clint’s albums. Hayden has received two CMA nominations for "Song of the Year", and over fifty songwriting awards including three "Triple Play Awards" (three number one songs in a twelve month period), as well as a Grammy nomination in 1989 for “A Better Man.”

In 2008 Hayden was awarded as an honoree for the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall Of Fame. Other honorees include Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, to name a few.

Hayden’s first novel in print, “Ezekiel’s Choice” will be released in 2013 as he continues to perform on the new Clint Black 2013 Acoustic Tour.

Welcome to HaydenNicholas.com!

Thanks to all who have ordered Ezekiel's Choice! The second leg of our 2013 tour begins in August. Fifty cities! We hope to see you out there!