Born in 1953 to Neal Gay and Evelyn "Cookie" Foster, he was only a year old when his mother died of leukemia. Don grew up in Mesquite, Texas, and started rodeo at age 6. His father, Neal Gay, was a well-known rodeo competitor and rodeo producer.
Don was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
His father was inducted in 1993, becoming the only father and son to receive that honor.
Don retired from professional rodeo in 1989. Gay now does live announcing at bull riding events across the United States. He was also a commentator for Professional Bulletin Riders (PBR) big-league events on TNN from 1994-2001, PRCA Xtreme Bulls big-league events on Entertainment and Sports Programming Network and Great American Country (Global Assembly Cache) from 2003-2013 and Championship Bulletin Riding (CBR) big-league events on Global Assembly Cache from 2009-2010.
However, he continues to be involved in PRCA Xtreme Bulls and CBR, providing live announcing at some events, including the CBR finals.
He also continues to provide additional color commentary for the bull riding during the live telecasts of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) each December. Starting in 2011, he now also runs his own semi-professional bull riding organization, the Don Gay Bulletin Riding Tour (DGBRT), which sanctions events annually across the United States.
In 1997 he received the PBR"s Ring of Honor. Don started riding calves at age 6.
His father ran the famed Mesquite Rodeo which still operates today.
He used Mesquite to perfect his skills on both bulls and broncs. He got his PRCA permit just out of high school and hit the road. He soon got his pilot"s license and began flying himself to rodeo events in a private plane.
His next four titles came in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984.
The record of 8 world titles in bull riding still stands to this day.
