Hadley is perhaps best recognized for his one-of –a-kind voice, being one of the pioneers of horseback announcing, his extensive knowledge of rodeo and witty sense of humor, as a result of this he became a combination of a rodeo sportscaster , master of ceremonies, or a standup entertainer. Barrett says, “I want the people in the seats to feel that I’m talking directly to them. “I try to carry on a one-sided conversation with the audience – but I get their side of this, by their reaction”..
Hadley Barrett has spent a big share of his life entertaining people in one form or another.
Coming from a meager, ranch-raised beginning, Hadley’s first association with the rodeo was as a contestant. As a singer, songwriter, and guitar player, Hadley led his own dance band – Hadley Barrett and the Westerners, for 34 years. The band was very popular throughout the Midwest, but the busy schedule in recent years has not allowed them to continue, in lieu of this, Hadley has been fortunate to make his rodeo and ranching career a success. In 1965, Hadley joined the PRCA, combining these talents to become one of the country’s premier rodeo announcers, and radio, and television personalities.
Hadley has been selected as the PRCA Announcer of the year several times. In the year 2002 he took the prestigious award home for the fourth time in his career. While this is such an honor, he feels very proud of the fact, that he has been the only announcer nominated for this award every year since it started back in 1981. In Hadley’s (Announcer of the Year) acceptance speech at Las Vegas, he proudly stated that he and his wife Lee, had adopted their 2 ½ year old foster child Taleah Lee, or (Mag) as Hadley refers to her, she is now 8 wonderful years old.
For many years the family had a cattle ranch in North Platte, Nebraska, this of course gave Hadley the solid foundation for knowing cattle, horses, and rodeo as well as he does. The Barrett’s currently live on the horse ranch in Kersey, Colorado, and enjoy training horses. The Family own and operate Double B Goldens, nationally known for producing the rare Beautiful White Golden Retriever dogs. |
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