Dale & Grace cracked the Top 40 twice in the 1960s. The two Southerners took one of their songs all the way to number one not long after they met. Grace Broussard was born in 1939 in Prairieville, Louisiana, and Dale Houston the following year in Seminary, Mississippi-his family, eventually settling in Baton Rouge. Dale was the son of a minister and grew up with the music he heard in church, singing and playing the piano. By the time he was in his teens, Dale knew that he wanted to make music his career. He recorded a song titled "Lonely Man" that dented the top 100 nationally and brought him to the attention of Sam Montel, a local record producer in Baton Rouge. Montel signed Dale as a songwriter. Around that time, a Cajun band from nearby Prairieville, headed by Van Broussard, found its way to Montel's studio. The singer in the band was Van's sister Grace.

 

Dale and Grace worked together for the first time in 1963. On their very first recording session together, they recorded "I'm Leaving It Up To You," on the Michelle label-one that Sam Montel had named for his daughter. Sam sent it to a disc jockey in Houston, and the record was an immediate hit. It was re-released a short time later on Sam's national label, Montel. It entered the national charts in October of 1963 and began to soar. Dale and Grace joined Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars and began to tour almost immediately.

 

Dale and Grace disbanded as an act in 1965. "I'm Leaving It Up To You," has been a favorite of male-female duos ever since, including Sonny & Cher and Donny & Marie Osmond. In the 90's Dale & Grace were inducted into our Gulf Coast Hall of Fame, The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, and the Texas Music Hall of Fame.