Jeffrey Steele, the award-winning American songwriter and former recording artist, was born in Burbank, California, on 27 August 1961. Although he achieved early success with the country band Boy Howdy and later released solo material, he became best known for writing major country hits for artists including Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Montgomery Gentry and Craig Morgan.

After moving to Nashville in 1994, Steele quickly established himself as a prolific songwriter, with Kevin Sharp’s “If You Love Somebody” reaching No. 4 on the country chart in 1997 and Diamond Rio’s “Unbelievable” becoming a crossover hit the following year. His largest songwriting success was Rascal Flatts’ 2006 version of “What Hurts the Most”, which topped the country and adult contemporary charts, reached No. 6 on the Hot 100, earned two Grammy nominations and was certified five-times platinum.