Sam Elliott

Sam Elliott came out of San Francisco with a debut album in the mid-1980s. The song 'Won't Back Down' from that record stuck around, finding its way to athletes and activists who needed something to push against the day with.

He kept making albums through the late '80s and early '90s, like 'A Change Is Gonna Come' and 'Soul Specialist.' The writing tended to circle personal struggle and a kind of social grit, delivered with a voice that had some folk and blues in its bones.

There were rough patches along the way, including some public struggles with substance use. That reality seeped into the work, giving the defiance in his songs a more grounded, lived-in quality.