Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Country pop
Color	white
Bgcolor	brown
Stylistic origins	Country and western (especially countrypolitan), pop music, soft rock
Cultural origins	1960s Nashville
Instruments	Vocals - Guitar - Bass - Drums - Occasional use of other instruments
Popularity	Mainstream through the United States
Derivatives	Adult contemporary
Other topics	Nashville sound - Urban cowboy - Country soul}}

Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to adult contemporary.

History

Beginnings: Nashville sound

The joining of country and pop began in the 1950s when studio executives Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley wanted to create a new kind of music for the adult crowd after “rockabilly stole away much of country music's youth audience”. According to Bill Ivey, this innovative genre originated in Nashville, Tennessee and thus became known as Nashville Sound. He believes that “Nashville Sound often produced records that sounded more pop than country” after the removal of the fiddle and banjo. Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, and Eddy Arnold were among the most popular artists during this time. This was intended to have country singers gain more success in pop music and sell more records. The first male artists to come out of this new genre were Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold, who both grew to have widespread acceptance in both country and pop music. The first female country singer to emerge from this new genre was Patsy Cline in the early 60s. She created a whole new breed of female country artists, such as Crystal Gayle and Shania Twain, who gained prominence in later years. Even though Cline also gained widespread acceptance from country and pop audiences alike, the Nashville Sound did not maintain its popularity for long, receiving competition first from the Bakersfield Sound and later the outlaw movement.

Country pop in the late 70s and 80s

- live in concert]] Country pop found its first widespread acceptance during the 1970s. It started with pop music singers, like Glen Campbell, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John and Anne Murray, began having hits on the country charts. Songs like Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy" were among one of the biggest crossover hits in country music history. These pop-oriented singers thought that they could gain higher record sales and a larger audience if they crossed over into the country world. Among one of the most unappreciated artists who did this was Olivia Newton-John in 1974, who emerged from Australia in the mid-70s, hoping to make it big in the United States. When her single "Let Me Be There" became a big pop-country crossover hit in 1974, it became quite controversial, especially after Newton-John won a Grammy award for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" for the song, and also won the CMA's most coveted award for females, "Female Vocalist of the Year".

A group of artists, troubled by this trend, formed the Association of Country Entertainers in 1974. The debate raged into 1975, and reached its apex at that year's Country Music Association Awards when reigning Entertainer of the Year Charlie Rich (who himself had a series of crossover hits) presented the award to his successor, John Denver. As he read Denver's name, Rich set fire to the envelope with a cigarette lighter. The action was taken in some quarters as a protest against the increasing pop style in country music (some, including Rich himself, cited medication instead as reason for his behavior). However, the ACE would not last all that long.

In 1977 Kenny Rogers burst onto the country charts with "Lucille" and would go on to become the most successful of the country pop performers, topping charts all over the world and taking the genre to the zenith internationally. After "Lucille", Rogers had a string of songs that did well on both the country and pop charts around the world, including "Daytime Friends", "The Gambler" and "Coward of the County", all of which were produced by Larry Butler. Rogers would go on to push the boundaries of pop influence in country music, having records produced by the likes of The Bee Gees, Lionel Richie, David Foster and George Martin, all of which did well in both the pop and country markets.

Country pop reached an early peak immediately following the movie Urban Cowboy in the early 1980s. Some older artists from the 1960s and 1970s converted their sound to country pop or 'countrypolitan', such as Faron Young, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Dottie West. Dolly Parton, who had already achieved considerable success as a mainstream country artist, wanted to expand her audience and go in new directions, so she decided to make a change in 1977, crossing over into the pop music world with No. 1 country and No. 3 pop hit that year called "Here You Come Again". She followed it up with a number of additional crossover pop hits, including "Two Doors Down" and "Heartbreaker" (both 1978), "Baby I'm Burning" (1979), "Starting Over Again" (1980), and "9 to 5", which topped both the country and pop singles charts in early 1981. (Ironically, despite her being one of the most successful practitioners of country pop crossover during the late 1970s and 1980s, Parton, because of her upbringing and mountain roots, is regarded by most critics as one of country's most authentic performers.)) Dottie West, who had been around since the '60s, completely changed her image into a more sexy and risky profile in the early '80s, following a series of hit duets with Kenny Rogers. (Rogers also had an enormous duet hit with Parton, the Bee-Gees-penned "Islands in the Stream", which topped the country and pop singles charts in late 1983.) After the success with Rogers, West wanted to remain on top of her game, so in order to keep up with current country music, she continued to record more pop-sounding material. Because of this, Dottie West achieved her biggest success as a country singer during this time, acquiring her first No. 1 hit as a solo artist thanks to her music in 1980 titled "A Lesson in Leaving".

Alabama, Eddie Rabbitt and Ronnie Milsap also began experiencing crossover success during the early 1980s. Four of Alabama's most successful songs of the early 1980s — "Feels So Right", "Love in the First Degree", Take Me Down" and "The Closer You Get" — all reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, while four of Ronnie Milsap's No. 1 songs between 1980-1982 reached the Hot 100's Top 20, the most successful of which was the No. 5 hit "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me". Rabbitt had three Top 5 pop songs in 1980-1981, and "I Love a Rainy Night" reached No. 1 on both the Hot 100 and Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

By the mid-80s, however, fans of more traditional country music were growing restless. For the next several years, country radio was dominated by neotraditional artists, although some country pop artists continued to have hits, most notably Alabama, Parton, Rabbitt and Milsap.

Revival in the 1990s and 2000s

Country pop enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s, primarily because of the beginning proliferation of country music to the FM radio dial, which in turn was aided by the increase of FCC licenses for suburban and rural FM stations in the late 1980s and an increase in talk radio on the AM dial. Garth Brooks rose to fame during the 1990s with a string of several extremely successful albums and songs. Shania Twain would rival this success with her three albums The Woman in Me, Come On Over and Up!. In the last few years, country singer LeAnn Rimes has proved her ability to sing country pop songs such as the record-setting "How Do I Live", which spent 69 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, the second longest single in the record history. This achievement came in spite of the fact that a nearly identical version of the same song by Trisha Yearwood was released at the same time and was also a hit. Rimes also had a hit with the pop songs "Can't Fight the Moonlight" and "I Need You."

While supporters of country pop contend the style has brought many new fans to the genre, others, particularly older country music artists and fans that embrace the more traditional styles, have criticized country pop music. Their main argument is that commercial country music, especially that which has been produced since 2005, already sounds too much like mainstream pop music even without an even more pop-sounding sub-genre. Kenny Rogers responded to both sides of the debate by stating "For country music, I'm not country enough. Everywhere else I'm too country".

In the 1990s many country artists experienced huge crossover success. These artists include Brooks, Twain, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, The Dixie Chicks, Jo Dee Messina, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Lonestar, Sara Evans and Rimes.

The early 2000's also saw continued success of these artists. Lee Ann Womack scored a big hit with I Hope You Dance". The Dixie Chicks had continued success with a less mainstream country-pop sound when they released their album Home in 2002. However, by the mid-2000s there were fewer country acts having crossover success. Carrie Underwood became a crossover success in 2006 and 2007 though, with her hit single Before He Cheats. Taylor Swift has also had crossover success in the late 2000's.

Revival in the 2010s

In the new decade, Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum have achieved success recently.

Country pop artists/groups

Glen Campbell

Lynn Anderson

Charlie Rich

Dolly Parton

Kenny Rogers

John Denver

Olivia Newton-John

The Eagles

Faron Young

Elton John

Billy Ray Cyrus

Willie Nelson

Dottie West

Alabama

Eddie Rabbitt

Ronnie Milsap

Anne Murray

Garth Brooks

Shania Twain

Tim McGraw

Faith Hill

Dixie Chicks

Jo Dee Messina

Miley Cyrus

Lonestar

Sara Evans

LeAnn Rimes

Lee Ann Womack

Carrie Underwood

Kellie Pickler

Taylor Swift

Lady Antebellum

Jennette McCurdy

Jason Aldean

Keith Urban

Rascal Flatts

See also

"Murder on Music Row"

"Long Time Gone"

Notes

Category:Country music genres Category:Pop music genres

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Taylor Swift
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Taylor Alison Swift
Birth date	December 13, 1989Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, United States
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, ukulele
Genre	Country pop, pop, teen pop, country
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, actress
Years active	2006–present
Label	Big Machine
Notable instruments	Custom-built Taylor acoustic guitars
Url
Associated acts	Nathan Chapman, Liz Rose

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country pop Fearless topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks; no album has spent more time at No. 1 since 2000. Swift was named Artist of the Year by Billboard Magazine in 2009. Swift released her third album Speak Now on October 25, 2010 which sold 1,047,000 copies in its first week.

In 2008, her albums sold a combined four million copies, making her the best-selling musician of the year in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Forbes ranked Swift 2009's 69th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $18 million and 2010's 12th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million. Swift was ranked the 38th Best Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard. In January 2010 Nielsen SoundScan listed Swift as the most commercially successful country (or country/pop crossover) artist in music history with over 28 million digital tracks sold. , she has sold over 16 million albums worldwide.

Early life

Swift was born on December 13, 1989, the only daughter of Andrea Gardner (née Finlay), a homemaker, and Scott Kingsley Swift, a stockbroker. She was born and raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Her maternal grandmother, Majorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift has a younger brother, Austin.

When she was in fourth grade, she won a national poetry contest with a three-page poem entitled "Monster In My Closet". When Swift was 10, a computer repairman showed her how to play three chords on a guitar, sparking her interest in learning the instrument. Afterwards, she wrote her first song, "Lucky You". She began writing songs regularly and used it as an outlet to help her with her pain from not fitting in at school. She was a victim of bullying, and often wrote songs to express her emotions. Swift also started performing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs around her hometown. When she was 12, she devoted an entire summer to writing a 350-page novel, which remains unpublished. Her first major show was a well-received performance at the Bloomsburg Fair. Swift attended Hendersonville High School but was subsequently homeschooled for her junior and senior years. In 2008, she earned her high-school diploma.

Swift's greatest musical influence is Shania Twain. Her other influences include LeAnn Rimes, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, and her grandmother. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer, Swift's tastes always leaned more toward country music. In her younger years, she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton. She also credits the Dixie Chicks for demonstrating the impact you can make by "stretching boundaries".

Music career

2000–05: Musical beginnings

At age 11, Swift made her first trip to Nashville, hoping to obtain a record deal by distributing a demo tape of her singing with karaoke songs. She gave a copy to every label in town, but was rejected.

After Swift returned to Pennsylvania, she was asked to sing at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, where her rendition of the national anthem received much attention. Swift started writing songs and playing 12-string guitar when she was 12. Swift began to regularly visit Nashville and wrote songs with local songwriters. By the time she was 14, her family decided to move to an outlying Nashville suburb.

When Swift was 15, she rejected RCA Records because the company wanted to keep her on an artist development deal. After performing at Nashville's songwriters' venue, The Bluebird Café, she caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, who signed her to his newly formed record label, Big Machine Records. At age 14, she became the youngest staff songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house.

guitar in June 2006. Swift continues to perform with custom-made Taylor guitars.]]

2006–08: Taylor Swift

Swift released her debut single, "Tim McGraw", in mid-2006, reaching #6 on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Songs chart. Her self-titled debut album was later released on October 24, 2006. Debuting high on the Billboard 200, the album sold 39,000 copies during its first week. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums and #5 on the Billboard 200. Her debut album spent eight consecutive weeks at the top of the Top Country Albums charts and remained at the top for 24 out of 91 weeks. The only other country artists this decade to achieve the number-one sales position for 20 weeks or more are The Dixie Chicks and Carrie Underwood.

The music video for "Tim McGraw" won Swift an award for Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2007 CMT Music Awards. Her pursuit of country music stardom was the subject of "GAC Short Cuts", a part-documentary, part-music-video series airing since the summer of 2006. On May 15, 2007, Swift performed "Tim McGraw" at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Swift has been an opening act for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on their Soul2Soul 2007 tour. She has opened in the past for George Strait, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts as well.

The second single from the Taylor Swift album, "Teardrops on My Guitar", was released February 24, 2007. In mid-2007, the song peaked at #2 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was re-released with a pop remix that brought "Teardrops on My Guitar" to #13 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Pop 100. In October 2007, Swift was awarded Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Assn. Intl., making her the youngest artist ever to win the award.

Her third song off her debut album, "Our Song" spent six weeks at #1 on the Country charts, peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, and rose to #24 on the Billboard Pop 100. Swift recorded a holiday album, , which was released exclusively at Target in late 2007. Swift was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best New Artist, but lost to Amy Winehouse. Swift's successful single, "Picture to Burn", was the fourth single from her debut album. The song debuted and soon peaked at #3 on the Billboard Country chart in spring 2008.

HQ in 2007.]]

"Should've Said No" became Swift's second #1 single. In Summer 2008, Swift released Beautiful Eyes, an EP sold exclusively at Wal-Mart. In its first week of release, the album sold 45,000 copies, debuting at #1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and #9 on the Billboard 200. With her self-titled debut album sitting at #2 during the same week, Swift became the first artist since 1997 to hold the Top 2 positions of the Top Country Albums chart. In October 2008, Swift performed a duet with best selling rock band Def Leppard in a taped show in Nashville, Tennessee, and their collaboration was up for both Performance of the Year and Wide Open Country Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards in 2009.

2008–09: Fearless and MTV VMA incident

Swift's latest studio album, Fearless, was released in the United States on November 11, 2008. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. Its sales of 592,304 were the highest debut of any country artist in 2008. This is also the largest opening U.S. sales week in 2008 by a female artist in all genres of music, and the fourth biggest overall behind Lil Wayne, AC/DC and Coldplay. Its lead single "Love Story" became a hit on both the country and pop charts. During the first week of release, more than 129,000 of Swift's sales were sold digitally. This gives Swift the best online start for any country album in history. It also makes Swift the fourth biggest week for a digital album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking them in 2004. Through its eighth week of release, Fearless has sold more than 338,467 downloads, making it the bestselling country album in digital history. In second place is Swift's debut Taylor Swift with sales of 236,046 downloads as of April 18, 2009.

In its debut week, seven songs in total on Fearless were charted on Billboard Hot 100, tying Swift with Miley Cyrus for the most by a female artist in a single week. With "White Horse" charted at #13, this gave Swift her sixth top 20 debut of 2008, a calendar year record for any artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. Of the 13 tracks on Fearless, 11 have already spent time on the Hot 100. The song was also featured as part of the soundtrack of NBC's broadcast package of the Olympics.

The lead single from the album, "Love Story", was released on September 12, 2008. The Fearless album includes the "Love Story" music video which is based on Romeo and Juliet. The song has reached #2 on iTunes Store Top Downloaded Songs and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Fifteen weeks after being added to pop radio, "Love Story" also became the first country crossover recording to hit number one on the Nielsen BDS CHR/Top 40 chart in the 16-year-history of the list, as well as number one on the Mediabase Top 40 Chart.

The second single from Fearless, "White Horse", was released on December 8, 2008. The music video for the song premiered on CMT on February 7, 2009. Though it missed the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot Country Songs as of the week April 11, 2009, "White Horse" claimed the #1 spot atop the USA Today/Country Aircheck chart (powered by Mediabase) in that week. "Forever & Always", another song from the album, was based on Swift's relationship with singer Joe Jonas.

She was the first artist in the history of Nielsen SoundScan to have two different albums in the Top 10 on the year end album chart.

Swift is Billboard's Top Country Artist and Hot Country Songwriter of 2008; she is also country music's best-selling artist of 2008. Swift ranked seventh on Nielsen SoundScan Canada's top-10 selling artists across all genres in 2008. Fearless and Taylor Swift took the #1 and #2 slots on 2008 Year-End Canadian Country Albums Chart. Swift sang the Star-Spangled Banner at game three of the World Series in Philadelphia on October 25, 2008.

in Prince Edward Island, Canada.]] In January 2009, Swift announced her North American Fearless Tour planned for 52 cities in 38 states and provinces in the US and Canada over the span of 6 months. The tour kicked off April 23 in Evansville, Indiana. In the same month, Swift made her first musical guest appearance on Saturday Night Live. On February 8, 2009, Swift performed her song "Fifteen" with Miley Cyrus at the 51st Grammy Awards.

As of the week ending February 8, 2009, Swift's single "Love Story" became the country song with the most paid downloads in history. Since the release of Swift's second album, Fearless, she has released one new song "Crazier" for the of the feature film . At the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, Swift picked up Album of the Year honors as a performer and producer for Fearless.

Swift is the youngest artist in history to win the ACM Album of the Year award. The Academy lauded her for career achievements including selling more albums in 2008 than any other artist in any genre of music, the breakthrough success of her debut album, and the worldwide crossover success of her #1 single "Love Story". The Academy also cited Swift's contribution to helping country music attract a younger audience. As of late April 2009, Swift has sold more than 14 million downloads, as well as three Gold Mobile Ringtones.

On April 28, 2009, Swift gave a free, private concert to students at Bishop Ireton High School, a small Catholic school in Alexandria, Virginia after the school won a national "TXT 2 WIN" contest from Verizon Wireless. The students sent over 19,000 text messages to Verizon during a roughly one month long contest. Swift played for about an hour during the school's field day, an annual day-long recess with games and activities. On October 8, 2009 Swift's official website announced that her sold-out Fearless Tour would return to North America for 37 additional dates in 2010.

Scheduled to perform on September 13, 2009, Swift attended the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

This was her first VMA performance, where she became the first country music artist to win an MTV Video Music Award. During the show, as Swift was on stage accepting the award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me," singer/rapper Kanye West came on stage and took the microphone from Swift, saying that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time," an action that caused the many audience members to boo West. He handed the microphone back to a stunned and reportedly upset Swift, who did not finish her acceptance speech. When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech.

Following the awards show, West apologized for his verbal outburst in a blog entry (which was subsequently removed). and even by President Barack Obama in an "off the record" comment. He later posted a second apology on his blog and made his first public apology one day after the incident on the debut episode of The Jay Leno Show. She said West had not spoken to her following the incident.

On the chart week of November 14, 2009, Swift set a record for the most songs on the Billboard Hot 100 by a female artist at the same time with eight singles from the re-release of her 2008 album Fearless namely five debut new songs in the top 30: "Jump Then Fall" at #10, "Untouchable" at #19, "The Other Side of the Door" at #22, "Superstar" at #27 and "Come in With the Rain" at #30 and three already-charted songs that were released as singles—"You Belong with Me" (#14), "Forever & Always" which re-entered the chart at #34, and "Fifteen" (#46).

In addition, the song "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls which features Swift, debuted at #80 in the same issue. This gives Swift six debuts in one week, the biggest number of debuts by any female artist of all time. It also lifts the number of her simultaneously-charting songs to nine, setting another record for the biggest number of charting songs by the same female artist in the same week. When "Fifteen" reached #38 on the chart week of November 21, 2009, Swift became the female artist with the most Top 40 singles this decade, surpassing Beyoncé. "Fifteen" became Swift's twentieth Top 40 single overall. "Two Is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls and John Mayer's "Half of My Heart" both featured Swift, peaking at #40 and #25 respectively. The two songs are her 21st and 22nd Top 40 singles.

Fearless was the best-selling album of 2009 in the US with more than 3.2 millions copies sold in that year. Swift claimed both the #1 and #2 positions atop Nielsen's BDS Top 10 Most Played Songs chart (all genres), with "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story," respectively. She also topped the all format 2009 Top 10 Artist Airplay chart with over 1.29 million song detections, and the Top 10 Artist Internet Streams chart with more than 46 million song plays.

2010–present: Speak Now

Swift released the track "Today Was a Fairytale" as a digital download on iTunes on January 19, 2010. The song was featured on the soundtrack for the film Valentine's Day, in which she made her feature-film acting debut. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 2, becoming her sixth Top 10 and 23rd Top 40 single on that chart. According to Nielsen SoundScan, with sales of "Today Was a Fairytale" more than 325,000 in its first week, Swift has broken the record for first-week download sales by a female artist. The song also debuted at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, making it Swift's first number one hit in Canada.

In February 2010, Swift brought her Fearless Tour to 5 cities in Australia. Opening acts included Gloriana.

In mid-July 2010, Billboard revealed that Swift's new album is called Speak Now. It was released on October 25, 2010. She has written the album completely by herself in Arkansas, New York, Boston and Nashville with Nathan Chapman serving as co-producer. On Wednesday, August 4, 2010, the lead single from the album, "Mine," was leaked onto the internet. Big Machine Records decided to rush the release of the song to counteract the leak.

Taylor Swift appeared at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on November 10, 2010.

Songwriting style

Swift's lyrics are highly autobiographical; she has said that "If you listen to my albums, it’s like reading my diary." For example, the song "Forever & Always" was inspired by her relationship with Joe Jonas, while the song "Hey Stephen" was written about a boy who she toured with in the past. She has also indicated that she tries to write so her fans can relate to the lyrics, saying "My goal is to never write songs that my fans can't relate to." She parodied her confrontational style of songwriting during her appearance on Saturday Night Live; during her opening monologue, she performed an original song that featured lines such as "You might think I'd bring up Joe, that guy who broke up with me on the phone/ Hey, Joe, I'm doing real well, tonight I'm hosting 'SNL'" referring to her highly publicized relationship with Joe Jonas.

The intensely personal nature of the songs has drawn her attention in the music industry. Swift once said, "I thought people might find them hard to relate to, but it turned out that the more personal my songs were, the more closely people could relate to them."

The autobiographical nature of her songs has led some fans to research the songs' origins. Swift once said, "Every single one of the guys that I’ve written songs about has been tracked down on MySpace by my fans." The New York Times described Swift as "one of pop's finest songwriters, country’s foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults".

Other work

Acting

In 2008, Swift made her acting debut in Brad Paisley's music video "Online". In that same year Swift filmed a documentary for MTV entitled MTV's Once Upon a Prom and a documentary with Def Leppard for CMT entitled CMT Crossroads, which premiered on November 7, 2008. Swift collaborated with the Jonas Brothers in their 3D Concert Film, . The film was released on February 27, 2009 in North America and brought in $12.7 million on its opening weekend. Swift made her primetime television acting debut on CBS's "Turn, Turn, Turn" as Haley Jones on March 5, 2009 in the U.S. and Canada. The episode was watched by 20.8 million viewers. Swift made a cameo appearance in Kellie Pickler's music video "Best Days of Your Life". Swift also appeared in credited as "woman singing in the barn". The film was released on April 10, 2009 in North America. The television show Dateline NBC showcased an hour on Swift on May 31, 2009. The episode titled Dateline NBC: On Tour With Taylor Swift included scenes from her tour bus, concert footage, and rehearsals. Swift both hosted and performed as the musical guest for the November 7, 2009 episode of Saturday Night Live. In 2010, Swift made her feature film acting debut as Felicia in the film Valentine's Day. For this role she won the Teen Choice Award for Movie Female Breakout.

Cover model and recognition

Swift has been featured on the cover of a number of magazines. She has been a cover girl for Blender, for which she was one of two country artists during the magazine’s fifteen year run to be a cover subject. She was included in People's annual "100 Most Beautiful People" 2008, 2009, and 2010 lists. Additionally, she was named number fifty-seven on Maxim's sexiest women of 2008, and number thirty-one on the 2010 list. CosmoGirl voted Swift as the "2008 Girl of the Year". Swift was named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of "The RS 100: Agents of Change". She was nominated as a candidate for Times "2009 The Time 100 Finalists" list, which is determined by online voting. People magazine named Swift one of 25 Most Intriguing People of 2009.

Merchandise

Jakks Pacific released a celebrity doll of Swift in late 2008. Taylor Swift has been the face of L.E.I. Jeans (Life Energy Intelligence) since 2008. Swift and the L.e.i. Clothing Line made a deal to create a line based on Swift's style of dressing, which will appear in Wal-Mart in the coming months. However, Swift said she does not want to be called a designer. Instead, she says she will inspire the clothing company's dress line based on her own style. "I don't look at it like I'm branching out as a designer... It's not the Taylor Swift designer line." In 2009, Swift became the National Hockey League's newest celebrity spokesperson. She appears in commercials for the Nashville Predators.

In May 2009, Swift filed a lawsuit (kept sealed until August 2010) against numerous sellers of unauthorized counterfeit merchandise bearing her name, likeness, and trademarks, where she demanded a trial by jury, sought a judgement for compensatory damages, punitive damages, three times the actual damages sustained, and statutory damages, and sought for recovery of her attorney's fees and prejudgement interest. Nashville's U.S. District Court granted an injunction and judgment against the sellers, who had been identified at Swift's concerts in several states. The court ordered merchandise seized from the defendants to be destroyed.

Philanthropy

]] On September 21, 2007, Swift helped launch a campaign to protect children from online predators. She has teamed up with Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen to combat internet sex crimes.

Swift donated $100,000 to the Red Cross in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to help the victims of the Iowa flood of 2008. Swift has teamed up with Sound Matters to make listeners aware of listening "responsibly". Swift supports @15, a teen-led social change platform underwritten by Best Buy to give teens opportunities to direct the company's philanthropy through the newly-created @15 Fund. Swift's song, "Fifteen", is featured in this campaign. Swift lent her support to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal by joining the lineup at Sydney's Sound Relief concert, reportedly making the biggest contribution of any artist playing at Sound Relief to the Australian Red Cross. Swift donated her prom dress, which raised $1,200 for charity, to DonateMyDress.org. On November 20, 2009 after a live performance on BBC's Children in Need night Swift announced to Sir Terry Wogan she would donate £13,000 of her own money to the cause.

On December 13, Swift's own birthday, she donated $250,000 to various schools around the country which she had either attended or been involved with. Taylor Swift has donated a pair of her shoes - a gently-worn pair of black Betsey Johnson heels with her autograph on the sole - to the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation's Hero in Heels fundraiser for auction to raise money to benefit women with cancer.

In response to the May 2010 Tennessee floods, Swift donated $500,000 during a flood relief telethon hosted by WSMV, a Nashville television station.

Personal life

In 2008, Swift was in a relationship with pop singer Joe Jonas which ended in November of that year. Swift indicated that her heartbreak song, "Forever & Always", on her album Fearless was inspired by Jonas. The song "Back To December" off her album Speak Now, which Swift has described as an apology song, has been widely speculated to be dedicated to Lautner.

Filmography

Discography

Taylor Swift (2006)

Fearless (2008)

Speak Now (2010)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American child singers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American female guitarists Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Big Machine Records artists Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from Pennsylvania Category:People from Berks County, Pennsylvania Category:Ukulele players Category:American Christians

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Shania Twain
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Eilleen Regina Edwards
Alias	Eilleen Twain (1967-1992)
Born	August 28, 1965Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Genre	Country, pop, soft rock, dance, rock
Years active	1993–present
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Label	Mercury Nashville
Url	www.shaniatwain.com

Shania Twain, OC (; born Eilleen Regina Edwards; August 28, 1965) is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s with her album The Woman In Me (1995), and achieved worldwide success with her 1997 album Come On Over, which became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician, and the best selling country album of all time. It has sold over 39 million copies worldwide and is the 9th bestselling album in the U.S.

A five-time Grammy Award winner, Twain has also achieved major success as a songwriter, winning 27 BMI Songwriter awards. Twain is one of the first country artists to achieve major crossover success in pop music. She is the only female musician to have three albums certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and is also the second best-selling artist in Canada, behind fellow Canadian Céline Dion, with three of her studio albums being certified double diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. Twain has sold over 80 million albums worldwide, including 48 million in the U.S. She is ranked as the 10th best-selling artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, with approximately 33.5 million in sales through April 2008. She was also ranked the 72nd Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard.

Early years

Shania Twain was born Eilleen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, daughter of Clarence and Sharon Edwards. Her parents divorced when she was two, and her mother then moved with Eilleen and her sister Jill to Timmins, Ontario, where she married Jerry Twain, an Ojibwa. He adopted the girls, legally changing their last name to Twain. Because of her connection to her stepfather, in the past, people had presumed Twain's ancestry was Ojibwa, but she stated in an interview that her biological father was part Cree. Through her mother she is a descendant of Zacharie Cloutier. Her maternal grandmother, Eileen Pearce, emigrated from Newbridge, Kildare, Ireland.

One of five children, Eilleen Twain had a hard childhood in Timmins. Her parents earned little, and there was often a shortage of food in the household. At one point, while Jerry was at work, her mother drove the rest of the family to a Toronto homeless shelter for assistance. She did not confide her situation to school authorities, fearing they might break up the family. In the remote, rugged community, she learned to hunt and to chop wood. Aside from working at an Ontario McDonald's restaurant, Twain began to earn money by singing in local clubs and bars from a very young age to support her family. She was singing in bars starting at the age of eight to try to make ends meet, often earning twenty dollars between midnight and one in the morning performing for remaining customers after the bar had finished serving. Although she has expressed a dislike for singing in such a smoky atmosphere at such a young age, Shania believes that this was her performing arts school on the road to becoming a successful singer. Twain has said of the ordeal, "My deepest passion was music and it helped. There were moments when I thought 'I hate this'. I hated going into bars and being with drunks. But I loved the music and so I survived".

Twain wrote her first songs at the age of ten, Is Love a Rose and Just Like the Storybooks which were fairy tales in rhyme. As a child, Twain has been described by a close childhood friend Kenny Derasp as "a very serious kid who spent a lot of time in her room." The art of creating, of actually writing songs, "was very different from performing them and became progressively important".

Music career

Career as Eilleen Twain

At 13, Eilleen Twain, the future "Shania" Twain, was invited to perform on CBC television's Tommy Hunter Show. While attending Timmins High and Vocational School in Timmins, she was the singer for a local band called "Longshot" which covered Top 40 music.

After graduating from Timmins High in July 1983, Twain was eager to expand her musical horizons. After the demise of her band Longshot, Twain was approached by a covers band led by Diane Chase called "Flirt" and toured all over Ontario. In the autumn of 1984 Twain's talents were noticed by a Toronto DJ Stan Campbell who wrote about her in a Country Music News article, "Eileen possesses a powerful voice with an impressive range. She has the necessary drive, ambition and positive attitude to achieve her goals". Bailey later said "She sang a few songs that she had written, and I thought to myself, this kid is like nineteen years old, where does she get this? This is from a person who's lived sixty years". where Twain spent much time practicing in 1985.]] Mary Bailey bought the contract from Stan Campbell and Twain moved into Bailey's home on Lake Kenogami where she practiced her music every day for hours. In the fall of 1985, Bailey took Twain down to Nashville to stay with a friend, record producer Tony Migliore, who at the time was producing an album for fellow Canadian singer Kelita Haverland and Twain featured on the backing vocals to the song Too Hot to Handle. She also demoed songs with Cyril Rawson but without success, partly due to Twain's wish to become a rock singer, not a country artist and after five months she returned to Canada and moved in with Bailey in a flat in downtown Kirkland Lake. There she met a rock keyboardist Eric Lambier and drummer Randy Yurko and formed a new band, moving three months later to Bowmanville, near Toronto. In late summer 1986 Mary Bailey had arranged Twain to meet John Kim Bell, a half Mohawk, half American conductor who had close contacts with the directors of the Canadian Country Music Association. Bell recognised Twain's ability as well as looks and the two began secretly dating, despite their clash of backgrounds.

On November 1, 1987, Twain's mother and adoptive father died in a car accident. Twain took care of her siblings, moving with her half-brothers Mark and Darryl and half-sister Carrie Ann to Huntsville, Ontario, where she supported them by earning money performing at the nearby Deerhurst Resort.

1993–1994: Shania Twain

After Twain's siblings moved out on their own, she assembled a demo tape of her songs, and her manager set up a showcase for Twain to present her material to record executives. Twain caught the attention of a few labels, including Mercury Nashville Records, who signed her within a few months. During this time, she changed her name to Shania, an Ojibwa word which means "on my way".

Twain's self-titled debut album was released in 1993 in North America, garnering audiences outside of her own country. The album only reached #67 on the US Country Albums Chart, but it gained many positive reviews from critics. The album yielded two minor hit singles in the United States with "What Made You Say That" and "Dance with the One That Brought You". It was more successful in Europe, where Twain won Country Music Television Europe's "Rising Video Star of the Year" award.

The Woman in Me was released in the spring of 1995. The album's first single, "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" went to #11 on the Billboard Country Chart. This was followed by her first Top 10 and #1 hit single, "Any Man of Mine". Twain had further hits from the album, including the title track which peaked at #14 and three additional #1 hits: "(If You're Not in it for Love) I'm Outta Here!", "You Win My Love", and "No One Needs to Know". The album was a quick breakthrough. Shania performed selected international venues and television shows with Nashville guitarist Randy Thomas (co-writer of the song "Butterfly Kisses") and Stanley T., formerly with the Beach Boys. Mercury Record's promotion of the album was based largely upon a series of sexy music videos. The Woman in Me won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album as well as the Academy of Country Music award for Album of the Year; the latter group also awarded Twain as Best New Female Vocalist.

Worldwide success

1997–2000: Come on Over

In 1997, Twain released her follow-up album, Come on Over. This was the album that would establish her as a successful crossover singer. Slowly, the album started racking up sales. It never hit the top spot, but with the multi-chart hit single "You're Still the One", sales skyrocketed. Other songs like "Don't Be Stupid", "You've Got A Way", "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!", "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "From This Moment On" joined the 12 songs that eventually saw release as singles. "From This Moment On" is a duet with singer Bryan White and even a pop version as well solo.

The album stayed on the charts for the next two years and Come on Over went on to sell 39 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling album of all time by a female musician. It is also the eighth biggest-selling album by any type of artist in the US.

2002–2004: Up!

After a change in management — QPrime replaced Landau — and a two year break, Twain and Lange returned to the studio. Up! was released on November 19, 2002. About a year later, Twain kicked off the Up! Tour in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 2003.

Up! was released as a double album, with three different discs—pop (a red CD), country (a green CD), and international (a blue CD). For North American markets, the pop disc was paired with the country disc and in international markets, the pop disc was paired with the world music disc. Up! was given four out of five stars by Rolling Stone magazine, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart, selling 874,000 in the first week alone. It remained at the top of the charts for five weeks. Up! reached #1 in Germany, #2 in Australia and the Top Five in the UK and France. In Germany, Up! was certified 4x platinum and stayed in the Top 100 for one and a half years.

The international music disc was remixed with Bollywood-style orchestral and percussion parts recorded in Mumbai, India. The new versions were produced by Simon and Diamond Duggal, brothers from Birmingham, England. They were originally invited to contribute parts to the pop version of "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" which retained the Bollywood influence.

Twain's popularity in UK was reflected by numerous appearances on the long-running music show Top of the Pops, performing singles from Come on Over from 1999. In 2002 an entire special show was dedicated to her on sister show TOTP2, in which Twain herself introduced some past performances of her greatest hits and new singles from Up!

The first single from the album, "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" became a top 10 country hit in the US, after debuting at an impressive #24 after only five days of airplay; but only made the Top 40 on the pop charts. It was a much bigger hit on the other side of the Atlantic, released in a pop version, the single hit the Top Five in the UK and Australia as well as the Top 15 in Germany and France. The follow-up single "Up!" reached the Top 15 in the US country charts but failed to reach the pop Top 40.

The second European single became the mid-tempo song "Ka-Ching!" (which was never released as a single in North America) with lyrics where Twain was criticizing unchecked consumerism. The song eventually became another smash hit in the important European markets, reaching #1 in Germany and Austria and other European countries, the UK Top 10 and the Top 15 in France.

The third single from the album would be the most successful in the US. The romantic ballad "Forever and For Always" was released as a single in April 2003 and peaked at #4 on the country chart and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and made as well the Billboard Top 20. Again success was even bigger on the other side of the Atlantic with "Forever and For Always" again reaching the Top 10 in both, the UK and Germany. Further singles were "She's Not Just a Pretty Face" a country Top 10 hit, while the last US single, "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing", made the Top 20 on both Country and AC.

Due to the enormous European success of Up! and its first three singles, two more singles were released in the second half of 2003 with up-tempo "Thank You Baby" (#11 in the UK, Top 20 in Germany) and just before Christmas the romantic, acoustic ballad "When You Kiss Me", at least a minor hit in both territories. The title track "Up!" also saw a single release in a limited edition of European countries, such as Germany, in early 2004. In January 2008, Up! had sold 5.5 million copies in the U.S. and was certified by the RIAA as 11x platinum (the organization counts double albums as two units).

On November 19, 2004, she appeared on the BBC charity telethon Children in Need. In addition to performing "Up!", she also acted as one of the celebrity assistants in an "all-star" magic act, in an illusion called "Clearly Impossible", in which she was sawed in half inside a clear-sided box.

In August 2005, she released the single "Shoes" from the Desperate Housewives soundtrack.

2006 onwards

At the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 16, 2007, Twain said she was currently writing songs for a new album, and was doing a "lot of soul searching" and "indulging in the writing."

Twain joined Canadian singer Anne Murray on the song "You Needed Me" on Murray's album released November 13, 2007 in Canada, and on January 15, 2008 in the U.S. On November 12, 2008 Twain made her first television appearance since her split from ex-husband Robert "Mutt" Lange, where she appeared as a surprise presenter at the 42nd CMA Awards.

In early January 2009, Internet forums were reporting that Twain was planning to make an announcement regarding her new album on January 26, 2009 but on the 22nd a spokesperson from Mercury Nashville told Country Weekly that no new album would be coming "anytime soon".

In June 2009, Twain released a letter to her fans explaining the delays in the release of her next album. In August 2009, at a conference in Timmins, Ontario, a spokesman for Twain's label said a new record from the singer is still "nowhere in sight". On August 17, 2009, EW announced that Twain would be a guest judge on American Idol in Chicago, for the show's August 30 and 31 episodes. On January 1, 2010, Shania carried the Olympic Torch through her hometown as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay.

In April 2010, Twain announced plans for her own TV show, entitled Why Not? With Shania Twain. The show is scheduled to debut in April 2011 on . Twain returned to American Idol as a guest mentor for a week where the top 6 contestants showcased her songs.

In September 2010, it was confirmed that Twain was to release an as of yet untitled autobiography in Spring 2011.

Endorsements and other ventures

Twain's commercial ventures outside the music industry included a series of cosmetic ads in 1999 based on "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" for Revlon. She also starred in ads for Candie's shoes and Gitano jeans, who also sponsored her 1998-1999 Come On Over Tour.

In January 2005, Twain joined Scentstories by Febreze to create a limited edition scent disc with the proceeds going to America's Second Harvest.

Late in 2005, Twain partnered COTY to produce her namesake fragrance "Shania by Stetson". A second fragrance was released in September 2007, called "Shania Starlight".

Personal life

Twain married music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on December 28, 1993, and they have a son, Eja D'Angelo (pronounced "Asia") who was born on August 12, 2001. On May 15, 2008, a spokesperson for Mercury Nashville announced that Twain and Lange were separating after Lange had an affair with Twain's best friend, Marie-Anne Thiebaud. Their divorce was finalized on June 9, 2010. On December 20, 2010, Twain's manager confirmed that Twain was engaged to Swiss business executive Frederic Thiebaud, the ex-husband of Marie-Anne Thiebaud. They married on January 1, 2011 in Rincón, Puerto Rico.

Twain practices Sant Mat, which calls for daily meditation and vegetarianism.

In a 2009 study to determine what measurable parameters create "beauty", scientists correlated a set of measures for the positions of various facial features in women with ratings of attractiveness. According to the study, beauty is a product of having as many features as close to the average measurement for each feature as possible. Shania Twain was noted in a BBC News article concerning the study due to the fact that her face is a close approximation to the ideal measurements found by the study.

One of Twain's practices for her skin is using ointment known as Bag Balm, which is applied to cows' udders during winter months to protect them from harsh weather. Twain says she uses it on her legs and face for softer skin.

Awards and honors

In addition to her various awards for her singles and albums, Twain has received a number of personal honors:

She was named the 1999 Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association; Twain was the first non-US citizen to win the CMA award.

Twain was ranked #7 in Country Music Television's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002. In 2003, Twain was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. The city of Timmins (located in Ontario, Canada) renamed a street for her, gave her the key to the city, and built the Shania Twain Centre in her honour. On November 18, 2005, Twain was invested as an Officer in the Order of Canada.

Discography

;Albums

1993: Shania Twain

1995: The Woman in Me

1997: Come On Over

2001: The Complete Limelight Sessions

2002: Up!

2004: Greatest Hits

See also

Music of Canada

List of best-selling music artists

References

Bibliography

External links

Shania Twain official website

Category:1965 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:Canadian contraltos Category:Canadian country singer-songwriters Category:Canadian country singers Category:Canadian expatriates in New Zealand Category:Canadian expatriates in Switzerland Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian vegetarians Category:Canadian people of English descent Category:Canadian people of First Nations descent Category:Canadian people of Irish descent Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from Ontario Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:People from Timmins Category:People from Windsor, Ontario Category:World Music Awards winners

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Patsy Cline
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Virginia Patterson Hensley
Alias	Ginny, Patsy
Born	September 08, 1932
Died	March 05, 1963
Origin	Winchester, Virginia, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano
Genre	Nashville sound, country, traditional pop, rockabilly, honky tonk, standards
Occupation	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1955–1963
Label	Four Star Records (1955-1960) Decca Records (1960-1963)
Associated acts	Kitty Wells, Jean Shepard, Jimmy Dean, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Skeeter Davis, Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, Jan Howard, Dottie West

Patsy Cline (September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963), born Virginia Patterson Hensley, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s. Since her death in 1963 at age 30 in a private airplane crash at the height of her career, she has been considered one of the most influential, successful, and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century.

Cline was best known for her rich tone and emotionally expressive bold contralto voice, which, along with her role as a mover and shaker in the country music industry, has been cited as an inspiration by many vocalists of various music genres. Her life and career have been the subject of numerous books, movies, documentaries, articles and stage plays.

Her hits included "Walkin' After Midnight," "I Fall to Pieces," "She's Got You," "Crazy," and "Sweet Dreams." Posthumously, millions of her albums have sold over the past 50 years. She has been given numerous awards, which have given her an iconic status with some fans similar to that of legends Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. Ten years after her death, she became the first female solo artist inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

In 2002, Cline was voted by artists and members of the country music industry as number one on CMT's television special, The 40 Greatest Women of Country Music, and in 1999 she was voted number 11 on VH1's special The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll by members and artists of the rock industry. She was also ranked 46th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of all Time." According to her 1973 Country Music Hall of Fame plaque, "Her heritage of timeless recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity."

Biography

Childhood

Born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932, in Winchester, Virginia, she was the daughter of Sam and Hilda Patterson Hensley, a blacksmith and a seamstress; Hilda was only 16 when Patsy was born. Patsy was the eldest of three children, the others being Samuel and Sylvia. The three children, despite their given names, were called Ginny, John, and Sis. Patsy grew up a poor girl "on the wrong side of the tracks," but except for the fact that her father deserted the family in 1947, when she was 15, the Hensley home was quite happy.

The family lived in many different places around Virginia before settling in Winchester. Cline often said as a child that she would one day be famous, and admired stars such as Judy Garland and Shirley Temple. A serious illness as a child caused a throat infection which, according to Cline, resulted in her gift of "a voice that boomed like Kate Smith's." Well-rounded in her musical tastes, Cline cited everyone from Kay Starr to Hank Williams as influences. As a child, she often sang in church with her mother. Cline was also a by-ear pianist who sang with perfect pitch.

Teen years

Cline began performing in variety-talent showcases in and around Winchester. She asked WINC-AM disc jockey Jimmy McCoy if he would let her sing on his show, which he did. His program was a showcase for local talent.

To help support her family after her father abandoned them, she dropped out of high school and worked various jobs, soda jerking and waitressing by day at The Triangle Diner across the street from her school, John Handley High. At night, Cline could be found singing at local nightclubs, wearing fringed Western stage outfits that she designed and that her mother made.

First marriage and first recording

In her early 20s, Cline met two men who would influence her rise to stardom. The first was contractor Gerald Cline, whom she married in 1953 and divorced in 1957. The dissolution of the marriage was blamed not only on a considerable age difference, but also Patsy Cline's desire to sing professionally and Gerald Cline's lack of support of her quest for stardom. While she dreamed of a career as a superstar, he wanted her to conform to the role of a housewife first. The second was Bill Peer, her new manager, who gave her the name Patsy, from her middle name and her mother's maiden name, Patterson.

Cline's numerous appearances on local radio attracted a large following in the Virginia-Maryland area—especially when Jimmy Dean learned of her. In 1954 she became a regular on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country afternoon radio show on WARL-AM in Washington, DC, which also featured Dean, himself a young country star.

In 1955, Cline was signed to Four Star Records. Her contract, however, only allowed her to record compositions by Four Star writers; Cline disliked this, and later expressed regret over signing with the label. Her first record for Four Star was "A Church, A Courtroom & Then Good-Bye", which attracted little attention, although it did lead to several appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. Between 1955 and 1957, Cline also recorded honky tonk material, with songs like "Fingerprints," "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down," "Don't Ever Leave Me Again," and "A Stranger In My Arms"; the latter two both co-written by Cline, and she experimented with rockabilly. None of these songs, however, gained any notable success.

According to Owen Bradley, her Decca Records producer, the Four Star compositions only seemed to hint at the potential that lurked inside of Cline. Bradley thought her voice was best suited for singing pop music. The Four Star producers, however, insisted that Cline would record only country songs, as her contract also stated. During her contract with Four Star, she recorded 51 songs.

National fame and "Walkin' After Midnight"

Cline made her network television debut on January 7, 1956 on ABC-TV's Grand Ole Opry; followed by an appearance on the network's Ozark Jubilee later that month, returning to the show in April. Later that year, while looking for material for her first album, Patsy Cline, a song appeared titled "Walkin' After Midnight," written by Don Hecht and Alan Block. Cline initially did not like the song because it was, according to her, "just a little old pop song." However, the song's writers and record label insisted she should record it.

She auditioned for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in New York City, and was accepted to sing on the CBS-TV show on January 21, 1957. Godfrey's "discovery" of Cline was typical. Her scout, actually her mother, presented Patsy who initially was supposed to sing "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)," but the show's producers insisted she instead sing her recent release, "Walkin' After Midnight." Though heralded as a country song, recorded in Nashville, Godfrey's staff insisted Cline not wear one of her mother's hand-crafted cowgirl outfits but appear in a cocktail dress.

The audience's enthusiastic ovations stopped the meter at its apex, and she won the competition and was invited to return. The song was so well-received that she released it as a single. In short, although Cline had been performing for almost a decade and had appeared nationally three times on ABC-TV, Godfrey was largely responsible for making her a star. For a couple of months thereafter, Cline appeared regularly on Godfrey's radio program.

"Walkin' After Midnight" reached No. 2 on the country chart and No. 12 on the pop chart, making Cline one of the first country singers to have a crossover pop hit. She rode high on the hit for the next year, making personal appearances and performing regularly on both Godfrey’s show, and for several years on Ozark Jubilee (later Jubilee USA). She could not follow it up with another hit, however, in part because of the deal with Four Star that limited her to recording songs only from its writers.

Cline co-wrote two songs, both in 1957 under her birth name, Virginia Hensley:

"A Stranger in My Arms," written with Charlotte White, and Mary Lu Jeans and recorded on April 24, 1957. The song was released as a Decca 45 single (Decca 30406), on August 12, 1957 b/w "Three Cigarettes (In An Ashtray)," and also as a 45 single on the Festival label as Festival SP45-1620.

"Don't Ever Leave Me Again," written with James E. Crawford, Jr., and Lillian N. Claiborne. "Don't Ever Leave Me Again" appeared on the 1957 Decca LP Patsy Cline and was the title track of a 1991 compilation album released on Laser Light.

Also in 1957, she met Charlie Dick, a good-looking ladies' man who frequented the local club circuit Cline played on weekends. His charismatic personality and admiration of Cline's talents captured her attention. Their relationship resulted in a marriage that would last the rest of her life. Though their love affair has long been publicized as controversial, Cline regarded him as "the love of her life." After the birth of their daughter, Julie, in 1958, they moved to Nashville, Tennessee.

A return in 1961 with "I Fall to Pieces"

In 1959, Cline met Randy Hughes, who became her manager. With Hughes's promotion and a new label, Cline would begin her ascent to the top. When her Four Star contract expired in 1960, she signed with Decca Records-Nashville, under the direction of legendary producer Owen Bradley. He was not only responsible for much of the success behind Cline's recording career, but he positively influenced the careers of Brenda Lee and Loretta Lynn as well.

Thanks to her vocal versatility, and with the help of Bradley's direction and arrangements, Cline enjoyed both country and pop success. His arrangements incorporated strings and other instruments not typical of country recordings of the day. He considered Cline's voice best-suited for country pop-crossover songs, and helped smooth her voice into the silky, torch song style for which she is famous. Nevertheless, she did not enjoy singing pop material. This new, more sophisticated instrumental style became known as The Nashville sound, created by Bradley and RCA’s Chet Atkins, who produced Jim Reeves, Connie Smith, and Eddy Arnold.

Cline's first Decca release was the country pop ballad, "I Fall to Pieces" (1961), written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. The song was promoted at both country and pop music stations across the country, leading to success on both country and pop charts. The song slowly climbed to the top of the country chart—Cline's first number one. The song also made No. 12 on the pop chart, as well as No. 6 on the adult contemporary chart, a major feat for any country singer at the time. The song made her a household name, demonstrating that a woman country singer could enjoy as much crossover success as a man.

The Opry and Nashville scene

In 1960, Cline joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry, realizing a lifelong dream. She became one of the Opry's biggest stars, and is believed to be the only person granted membership by asking.

Believing that there was "room enough for everybody," and confident of her abilities and appeal, Cline befriended and encouraged a number of women starting out in country music, including Loretta Lynn, Dottie West, Barbara Mandrell (with whom Cline once toured), Jan Howard and Brenda Lee, all of whom cite her as an influence. According to Lynn and West, Cline always gave of herself to friends, buying them groceries and furniture when they were hard up. On occasion, she would even pay their rent, enabling them to stay in Nashville and continue their careers. In Ellis Nassour's 1980 biography Patsy Cline. Cline's friend, honky tonk pianist and Opry star Del Wood, was quoted as saying, "Even when she didn't have it, she'd spend it—and not always on herself. She'd give anyone the skirt off her backside if they needed it."

Cline also befriended Roger Miller, Hank Cochran, Faron Young, Ferlin Husky, Harlan Howard and Carl Perkins, male artists and songwriters with whom she socialized at Tootsies Orchid Lounge next door to the Grand Ole Opry. In the 1986 documentary The Real Patsy Cline, singer George Riddle said of her, "It wasn't unusual for her to sit down and have a beer and tell a joke. She'd never be offended at the guys' jokes, because most of the time she'd tell a joke better than you! Patsy was full of life, as I remember."

Cline used the term of endearment "Hoss" to refer to her friends, and referred to herself as The Cline. According to the book "Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline" by Ellis Nassour, Patsy Cline met Elvis Presley in 1962 at a fundraiser at St. Judes and they even exchanged phone numbers. Having seen him perform during one of his rare Grand Ole Opry appearances, she admired his music, called him The Big Hoss, and recorded with his backup group, The Jordanaires.

Cline was in control of her own career, making it clear that she could stand up to any man—verbally and professionally—and challenge their rules if they got in the way of where she felt her career should be headed. In a time when concert promoters often cheated stars out of their money by promising to pay them after the show but running with the money during the concert, Cline stood up to many of the male promoters before she took the stage and demanded their money by proclaiming: "No dough, no show." According to friend Roy Drusky in the 1986 documentary The Real Patsy Cline: "Before one concert, we hadn't been paid. And we were talking about who was going to tell the audience that we couldn't perform without pay. Patsy said, 'I'll tell 'em!' And she did!" Friend Dottie West stated, "It was common knowledge around town that you didn't mess with 'The Cline!'"

Near-fatal car accident

Cline continued to thrive in 1961, and gave birth to a son, Randy. On June 14, 1961, she and her brother, Sam, were involved in a head-on car collision on Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville, the second and more serious of two during her lifetime. The impact threw Cline into the windshield, nearly killing her. Upon arriving, Dottie West picked glass from Patsy's hair, and went with her in the ambulance. While that happened, Patsy insisted that the other car's driver be treated first. This had a long-term detrimental effect on Ms. West; when West was fatally injured in a car accident in 1991, she insisted that the driver of her car be treated first, possibly causing her own death. Cline later stated that she saw the female driver of the other car die before her eyes at the hospital.

Suffering from a jagged cut across her forehead that required stitches, a broken wrist and a dislocated hip, she spent a month hospitalized. While in the hospital, Cline, according to the Nassour biography Patsy Cline and to friend Billy Walker (who died in a vehicle accident in 2006), rededicated her life to Christianity. She received thousands of cards and flowers sent by fans. When she left the hospital, her forehead was still visibly scarred. For the remainder of her career, she wore wigs and makeup to hide the scars, and headbands to relieve pressure on her forehead. She returned to the road on crutches, determined to be a survivor with a new appreciation for life.

In the 1990s, a series of recordings from her first concert after the accident were released. These archives, recorded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were found in the attic of one of Cline's former residences by the current owners and given to the family. The album, released in 1997, is titled Patsy Cline: Live At the Cimarron Ballroom. and features dialogue of Cline interacting with the audience, providing an historical archive of what her live performances were like.

The story of "Crazy"

After the success of "I Fall to Pieces," Cline needed a follow-up after a month lost from touring and promotions. Written by Willie Nelson, "Crazy," was a song Cline originally disliked. Her first session recording was a disaster, and Cline claimed that the song was too difficult to sing. She tried to record "Crazy" like its demo recording, which featured Nelson's idiosyncratic style, but had a tough time recording it not only because of the demo, but also because she found the high notes hard to sing due to injured ribs from her car accident. The day in the studio at Decca resulted in a head-on fight between Cline and Bradley.

After nearly four hours, which in the days of four songs in three hours was a very long time, spent trying, fighting and crying, they called it a night and saved the best performance of the instrumental track for Cline to overdub her vocal on the song later. In those days, overdubbing was considered a sign of weakness. Singers as well as producers wanted to capture the whole performance live in one take. But the next week, Patsy laid down the vocal you hear on the record in one take with no splices or re-do's. This is why when you hear the song today, you can hear a faint echo of the final `Youuuuuuuuuuu' before she actually sings it on the vocal track. This is not a defect, but caused by echoes of her original vocal performance bleeding through the vocal isolation booth onto the musicians' microphones out in the studio.

In a version completely different from the demo, the song became an instant classic and, ultimately, Cline's signature song—and the one for which she remains best known. In late 1961, the song was an immediate country pop crossover hit, and also constituted her biggest pop hit, making the Top 10. Loretta Lynn later reported that the night Cline premiered "Crazy" at the Grand Ole Opry, she received three standing ovations.

"Crazy" was a hit on three different charts in late 1961 and early 1962—the Hot Country Songs list (No. 2), the US Hot 100 list (No. 9), and the Adult Contemporary list (also No. 2). An album released that November entitled Patsy Cline Showcase featured Cline's two hits of 1961.

At the top

With Cline’s success climbing the record charts, she was in high demand on the concert circuit. Although many women in country music at that time were considered “window dressing" or opening acts for the more popular and higher-paid male stars, Cline was the first female country music star to headline her own show and receive top billing above some of the male stars with whom she toured. While bands typically backed up the female singer, Cline led the band through the concert instead. She was so respected by men in the industry, that rather than being introduced to audiences as “Pretty Miss Patsy Cline” as her female contemporaries often were, she was given a more stately introduction such as that given by Johnny Cash on their 1962 tour together: “Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Patsy Cline.” As an artist, she held her fan base in extremely high regard (many of whom became friends), staying for hours after concerts to chat and sign autographs.

Cline was not only the first woman in country music to perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall (which she did with fellow Opry members and disapproval from gossip columnist Dorothy Kilgallen—whom Cline fired back at) but also to headline the Hollywood Bowl with Johnny Cash and, later, in 1962, the first woman in country music to headline her own show in Las Vegas.

This success enabled Cline to buy her dream home in Nashville's Goodlettsville community, personally decorated in her style featuring gold dust sprinkled in the bathroom tiles and a music room. Loretta Lynn stated in a 1986 documentary interview, "She called me into the front yard and said, 'Isn't this pretty? Now I'll never be happy until I have my Mama one just like it.'" Cline called her home "the house that Vegas built" since she was able to pay it off with the money she earned during her time there. (Later, after Cline's death in 1963, Cline's home was sold by her husband to singer Wilma Burgess who told Patsy Cline author Ellis Nassour that "strange occurrences" happened during her years there.) , which featured her hits from that year, "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy". The cover (and name) were changed following Cline's death to the more-familiar version seen today.]]

With this new demand for Cline came a higher price tag, and reportedly towards the end of her life, she was being paid at least $1000 for appearances - then an unheard-of fee for women in the country music industry, since they usually paid less than $200 Her penultimate concert, held in Birmingham, Alabama, grossed $3000.

To match her new sophisticated sound, Cline also reinvented her personal style, shedding her trademark Western cowgirl outfits for elegant sequined gowns, cocktail dresses, spiked heels, and even gold lame pants. Cline’s new image was considered riskier and sexier by a then-conservative country music industry more accustomed to gingham and calico dresses for women. But like her sound, Cline’s style in fashion was mocked by many at first, then copied. She also loved dangly earrings and ruby-red lipstick; her favorite perfume was Wind Song.

During her short career of only five-and-a-half years, Cline received 12 awards for her achievements and three more following her death. Most were from Cashbox, Music Reporter, and Billboard Awards, considered high honors during her time. (Awards such as the ACM and CMAs were not established until after her death, and the Nashville chapter of the Grammys wasn't founded until 1964.)

Cline wrote of her success in a letter to friend Anne Armstrong (from the 1993 documentary Remembering Patsy): "It's wonderful—but what do I do for '63? Its getting so even I can't follow Cline!"

The last album: Sentimentally Yours

In late 1961, Cline was back in the studio to record songs for her upcoming album in 1962. One of the first songs recorded in late 1961 was the song "She's Got You," written by Hank Cochran, who pitched the song over the phone to Cline. It was one of the few songs Cline enjoyed recording. The song was released as a single in January 1962, and soon was another country pop crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the country chart again (her second and last chart-topper), No. 14 on the pop charts, and No. 3 on the adult contemporary charts (originally called "Easy Listening"). It would be Cline's last Top 40 Pop hit.

"She's Got You" was also Cline's first entry in the U.K. singles chart, covered by one of Britain's most popular female artists, Alma Cogan; it reached No. 43. Her biggest U.K. record sales Hit Parade entry before her death was her version of the standard tune "Heartaches," reaching the Top 30 in late 1962 .

Following the success of "She's Got You," Cline enjoyed a string of smaller country hits, including the Top 10 "When I Get Thru' With You," "Imagine That", "So Wrong", and "Heartaches." These hits were not big crossover pop hits as her previous three had been on the country charts; but were Top 10 and 20 hits.

In late 1962, Cline appeared on American Bandstand and released her third album in August, Sentimentally Yours. When asked in a WSM-AM interview about her vocal stylings, Cline stated, "Oh, I just sing like I hurt inside."

Though she was in high demand and her career was at its peak, the wear and tear of the road and business began to present the possibility of a hiatus for Cline, who longed to spend more time raising her children, Julie and Randy, especially after heading her own show at the Mint Casino in Las Vegas at the end of 1962.

A month before her death, Cline went into the studio to record her fourth album, Faded Love. Recording a mix of country standards and such vintage pop classics as Irving Berlin's "Always" and "Does Your Heart Beat for Me", these sessions proved to be the most contemporary-sounding of her career, without any country music instruments and featuring a full string section. (Owen Bradley told Patsy author Margaret Jones that he and Cline had even talked of doing an album of show tunes and standards before her death, including "Can't Help Loving That Man of Mine", since Cline was a fan of Helen Morgan.)

Cline, so involved with the story in the song's lyrics, reportedly cried through most of what would be her last sessions. This emotion can be heard on certain tracks, especially "Sweet Dreams" and "Faded Love". At the playback party that night at the studio, according to singer Jan Howard on the documentary Remembering Patsy, Cline held up a copy of her first record and a copy of her newest tracks and stated, "Well, here it is...the first and the last."

Death

Patsy Cline died in a plane crash in March of 1963, near Camden, Tennessee. The plane flew into severe weather, and according to Cline's wristwatch, crashed at 6:20 p.m. in a forest outside of Camden, Tennessee, 90 miles from the destination. Everyone died instantly from their injuries. Throughout the night, reports of the missing plane flooded the radio airwaves.

As stated in the Nassour biography, Patsy Cline, friends Dottie West and June Carter Cash both recalled Cline telling them that she felt a sense of impending doom and didn't expect to live much longer in the months leading up to her death. Cline also told Loretta Lynn of this, along with Carter and West, as early as September 1962. Cline, though known for her extreme generosity, even began giving away personal items to friends, writing out her own last will on Delta Air Lines stationery and asking close friends to care for her children if anything should happen to her. She reportedly told Jordanaire back up singer Ray Walker as she exited the Grand Ole Opry a week before her death: "Honey, I've had two bad ones (accidents). The third one will either be a charm or it'll kill me."

On March 3, 1963, Cline, though ill with the flu, gave a performance at a benefit show at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, for the family of a disc jockey, Cactus Jack Call, who had recently died in an automobile accident. Also performing on the show were George Jones, George Riddle and The Jones Boys, Billy Walker, Dottie West, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, and George McCormick and the Clinch Mountain Clan. The three shows, at 2:00, 5:15 and 8:00 p.m. were standing-room only. For the 2 p.m. show, she wore a sky-blue tulle-laden dress, for the 5:15 show a red shocker and for the closing show at 8 p.m. Cline wore a white chiffon gown and closed the show with her performance to a thunderous ovation. Her last song was the last one she recorded during her last sessions the previous month, "I'll Sail My Ship Alone".

Dottie West, wary of Cline flying, asked her to ride back in the car with her and her husband, Bill. Cline, anxious to get home to her children, refused West's offer, saying, "Don't worry about me, Hoss. When it's my time to go, it's my time." Poor weather delayed their departure by a day, and on March 5, she called her mother from the airport and then boarded a Piper Comanche bound for Nashville. The pilot was her manager Randy Hughes, with passengers Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins, who had taken Billy Walker's seat. After stopping to refuel in Dyersburg, Tennessee, the plane took off at 6:07 p.m. CT. According to revelations by the airfield manager in the Nassour biography, he suggested that they stay the night after advising of high winds and inclement weather on the flight path, but Hughes responded, "I've already come this far. We'll be there before you know it."

Roger Miller told Patsy Cline author Nassour that he and a friend went searching for survivors in the early hours of the morning: "As fast as I could, I ran through the woods screaming their names—through the brush and the trees, and I came up over this little rise, oh, my God, there they were. It was ghastly. The plane had crashed nose down." Not long after the bodies were removed, scavengers came to take what they could of the stars' personal belongings and pieces of the plane. Many of these items were later donated to The Country Music Hall of Fame, including Patsy's beloved Confederate Flag cigarette lighter which played "Dixie," her wrist watch, belt with 'Patsy Cline' studded across it and one of three pairs of her gold lame slippers which were featured on the revised version of her Showcase With The Jordanaires album. However, the white chiffon dress that Cline had worn for her last performance and the money bag carrying the star's payment for their last concert were never found.

As per her wishes, Cline was brought home to her dream house for the last time before her memorial service, which thousands attended. Hours later, news surfaced that singer Jack Anglin of country duo Johnnie and Jack fame had died on the way to her service, and the Opry mounted a tribute show to honor the victims.

She was buried in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia, at Shenandoah Memorial Park. Her grave is marked with a simple bronze plaque, which reads: Virginia H (Patsy) Cline "Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love." A bell tower in her memory at the cemetery, erected with the help of Loretta Lynn and Dottie West, plays hymns daily at 6:00 p.m., the hour of her death. A memorial marks the place where the plane crashed in the still-remote forest outside of Camden, Tennessee.

Family today

In December 1998, Cline’s mother, Hilda Hensley, died in Winchester, Virginia of natural causes. (Cline's father had died in the 1950s.) Hensley rarely granted interviews, living the rest of her life practicing her craft as a master seamstress in Winchester and helping to raise her grandchildren. Cline's daughter, Julie, stated in a 1985 People Magazine article: "Grannie loved my mother so much that it's still hard for her to talk about her." Hensley stated in her later years that the outpouring of love given to her by Cline's fans over the years had been amazing. "I never knew so many people loved my daughter," she told one newspaper.

Because Cline and her mother were so close in age, Cline often commented that her mother was also her best friend and the one person she could truly count on. Hensley also commented that Cline was a "wonderful daughter" who never let her family down in the hard times they endured. Cline's brother died in 2004, though her sister still lives in Virginia.

Charlie Dick resides in Nashville, where he continues to be a member of the country music community, producing documentaries on Cline and other artists through a video production company. Dick is involved with Cline's fan base and considers them an extension of family, attending many fan functions. Daughter Julie joins him in representing Cline’s estate at public functions and has four children of her own (one, Virginia, named for Cline, was killed in an automobile accident in 1994) and six grandchildren. Son Randy was the drummer of a Nashville band, although he chooses not to live in the limelight. Dick's brother, Mel, heads up the "Always... Patsy Cline" fan organization.

After Cline’s death, Dick married singer Jamey Ryan in 1965, but they were divorced a few years later. Even so, she continues to be a vital part of the family. Ryan provided the vocals for three songs in the film Sweet Dreams: "Bill Bailey (Won't You Please Come Home)", "Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms" and "Blue Christmas" (a tune Cline never recorded).

Legacy

Impact and influence

Guitarist-producer Harold Bradley said of Cline in the 2003 book Remembering Patsy, "She's taken the standards for being a country music vocalist, and she raised the bar. Women, even now, are trying to get to that bar.... If you're going to be a country singer, if you're not going to copy her—and most people do come to town copying her—then you have to be aware of how she did it. It's always good to know what was in the past because you think you're pretty hot until you hear her.... It gives all the female singers coming in something to gauge their talents against. And I expect it will forever."

When Cline made her first recordings in 1955, Kitty Wells, known as The Queen of Country Music, was the top female vocalist in the field. By the time Cline broke through as a consistent hit-maker in 1961, Wells was still country's biggest female star; however, Cline dethroned her by winning Billboard magazine's Favorite Female Country & Western Artist for two years in a row and the 1962 Music Reporter Star of The Year award.

The two country queens could not have been more different, given that Cline's full-throated sophisticated sound was a marked contrast to Wells' pure-country, quivering vocals. Though Cline had gained attention on country and pop charts, she did not think of herself as anything other than a country singer and was known for her humility in her motto: "I don't want to get rich—just live good."

1963–1985

In 1963, three songs became Top 10 Country hits after Cline's death: "Sweet Dreams", "Leavin' On Your Mind" and "Faded Love". More albums of unreleased material followed, starting with The Patsy Cline Story in the summer of 1963. This album replaced Cline's planned fourth album, originally to have been released that March and titled Faded Love. Owen Bradley produced all of these tracks. The majority featured the legendary back-up vocal group The Jordanaires, who also appeared on many of Elvis Presley's and Connie Francis' albums. The album's cover photo and design, featuring Patsy in a smoky haze of gold and with simple titles across the top, is also considered the first contemporary album cover art in country music history.

In the 1960s and early '70s, MCA (new owner of Cline’s former label, Decca) continued to issue Cline albums, so she had several posthumous hits, starting in early 1964 with a Top 25 country hit "He Called Me Baby", a song recorded during her "last sessions" in 1963, which was then released on her 1964 album That's How a Heartache Begins. Her Greatest Hits album, released in 1967, continues to appear on the country music charts. It held the record as the album to stay on the country charts the longest, until Garth Brooks surpassed it in the 1990s; however, it still holds the record for an album by a female artist.

In 1973, Cline was elected to The Country Music Hall of Fame along with guitarist and RCA producer Chet Atkins, making her the first female solo artist to receive that honor. Johnny Cash inducted Cline for the CMA Awards show, televised live from the Ryman Auditorium. Along with the standard induction bronze plaque, the hall houses a few of Cline's stage outfits, letters to her fan club president, and personal effects recovered from the crash site, including her "Dixie" cigarette lighter, donated by singer Carl Perkins.

In the late 1970s, Cline’s name occasionally appeared in magazine articles and television interviews with her friends, namely Dottie West and Loretta Lynn, who credited her with inspiration for the success they were seeing at that time. Lynn recorded a tribute album dedicated to Cline, I Remember Patsy, and scored a hit with Cline's 1962 hit "She's Got You".

It was encounters by Ellis Nassour, then-manager of MCA artist relations, with MCA-Decca recording star Lynn that led to a series of magazine profiles and ultimately to Honky Tonk Angel, the first of two Nassour biographies, featuring interviews with Cline's mother, Hilda Hensley; her husbands; intimate friends and peers such as West, Brenda Lee, and Faron Young.

Lynn's own autobiography, Coal Miner's Daughter (1976), featured a chapter dedicated to her friendship with Cline, and Lynn’s biopic of the same name which opened to rave reviews four years later, starred Sissy Spacek as Lynn in her first musical role and featured actress Beverly D'Angelo in the role of Patsy. D'Angelo, (who sang in the pic instead of miming to playback as Jessica Lange would do five years later in Sweet Dreams was said at the time to deliver a powerful but poignant performance of her somewhat brief role.) Contrary to the script of Coal Miner's Daughter however, Cline and Lynn never toured together, as Cline never owned her own bus and stars during her time usually traveled in caravans and limousines.

It was said at the time, and many continue to that if Coal Miner's Daughter hadn't garnered such a wide audience, there might never have been an interest in Cline's life, a highly romanticized and fictionalized account of which was covered in the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams. Loretta continues to say that if her own effort resulted in honoring the legacy of her great friend, then she is extremely pleased.

Singles continued to be released by MCA records through much of the 1970s, but none charted on the country list. In 1980, however, MCA released an overdubbed version of her version of the song "Always", recorded in 1963. The song reached No. 18 on the Hot Country Songs list in 1980. An album of the same name was released that year.

In 1981, an electronically-produced duet between Cline and Jim Reeves, another legendary country singer who died the year after Cline from the same fate. Their duet of "Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue)" was a No. 5 country hit that year. Like Cline, Reeves gained a massive fan following after his death, as well as a string of re-issued singles.

In 1983, due in part to the success of the biopic Coal Miner's Daughter starring Sissy Spacek in the title role, chronicling the early life of country superstar Loretta Lynn, producer Bernard Schwartz undertook massive amounts of research in order to bring the story of Patsy Cline to the big screen. Much of this research formed the basis for the book Patsy by Margaret Jones released in 1990.

For the film, Jessica Lange was cast in the title role and lip synched to Cline's original vocals laid onto a newly-recorded digital background. These new digital recordings brought Cline's voice to the forefront of American consciousness once again, garnering several hits from the soundtrack album.

1990–2000

In 1992, the U.S. Postal Service honored her, along with Hank Williams, the Carter Family and Bob Wills on a postage stamp. Also in 1992, MCA released a 4 CD/cassette collection of the discography, called The Patsy Cline Collection. This boxed set, which includes a booklet chronicling Cline's career (with many rare photos), remains one of the top 10 bestselling boxed collections in the record industry.

In 1993, the Grand Ole Opry opened its museum in Nashville, which includes a Cline exhibit, displaying several of her awards, stage outfits, wigs, make-up, hairbrush, and a fully-furnished replica of her dream home’s music room.

1993 also marked the 30th anniversary of the 1963 plane crash. To commemorate the event, the Opry televised its Saturday night segment as a tribute to Cline, Hawkins and Copas. With Cline's widower, Charlie, and their daughter, Julie, on hand, friend Jan Howard paid tribute to Cline, singing "I Fall to Pieces" (which her ex-husband, Harlan Howard, cowrote), followed by Loretta Lynn, who performed "She's Got You".

Also in 1993, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette included Cline's cover of Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" on their Honky Tonk Angels trio album, singing along with Cline's original vocals.

Cline became a member of the Texas Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1994. That same year, actress Delta Burke starred in her television show, Delta, as a Nashville waitress trying to make it into country music. The show referenced Patsy Cline throughout its run, and included several of Patsy Cline's hits, all sung by Burke. One episode took her to pay homage to Patsy Cline's grave where she meets another visitor, singer Tanya Tucker, who played herself.

Cline was portrayed on film again in the 1995 CBS biopic Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story, featuring Michele Lee as Dottie West and actress Tere Myers as Cline. At that year's Grammy Awards, Cline was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, with Barbra Streisand and Peggy Lee. On the Grand Ole Opry's 70th Anniversary Special on CBS, singer Martina McBride celebrated her induction as the Opry's newest member by paying tribute to Cline with her version of "Crazy."

In 1997, Cline's recording of "Crazy" was named the number one jukebox hit of all time; "I Fall to Pieces" came in at No. 17. In 1998, she was nominated to The Hollywood Walk of Fame by a dedicated fan, and received her star in 1999; later a street was named after her on the back lot of Universal Studios.

Also in 1999, VH1 named Cline number eleven on its 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll. She was also honored with the Nashville Golden Voice Award in its Legend Category that same year. Singer Trisha Yearwood celebrated her induction to the Opry that same year, paying tribute to Cline with her version of "Sweet Dreams" and receiving a necklace worn by Cline as a gift to commemorate the event from Cline's widower, Charlie, and their daughter, Julie.

2000–present

In 2002, CMT named her number one on its 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. Balloting was by artists and members of the music industry. Her place at number one was followed by those women who've said she inspired them, Tammy Wynette (No. 2) and Loretta Lynn (No. 3).

Cline's hit song, "I Fall to Pieces" was listed at No. 107 on RIAA's list of Songs of the Century in 2001. Lynn released a sequel to her autobiography, Coal Miner's Daughter, called Still Woman Enough and again dedicated a chapter to her friendship with Cline (called "Still Thinking of Patsy"). One of Lynn's daughters is named after Cline, and one of Brenda Lee's daughter's is named after Cline's daughter, Julie.

Throughout her career, country legend Reba McEntire has cited Cline as one of her childhood inspirations and, upon reaching stardom in the 1980s, featured Cline's hits on several of her first albums. McEntire closed her live shows for years with Cline's signature hit "Sweet Dreams", but discontinued the encore after closing a show with it on March 15, 1991 when the airplane carrying her band crashed and killed everyone aboard early the next morning.

One of the most heard country music albums of all time, Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits has sold 10 million copies worldwide since its 1967 release. Bob Ludwig remastered the set, and it has been reissued in its original cover art. In 2005, the album Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits was certified by the RIAA as diamond (designating the sale of 10 million). That same year, the album was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for staying on the music charts the longest of any female artist of any music genre in history.

Also in 2003, her childhood home in Winchester, Virginia was listed on The National Register of Historic Places with a bronze marker in front. Cline was also memorialized in Nashville's downtown Owen Bradley Park with her name on a slab of concrete featuring three of the hits that she and Bradley made famous. On the life-size grand piano upon which Bradley's statue sits is the sheet music for "I Fall to Pieces".

Each year, fans gather in Cline’s hometown of Winchester, Virginia, where she is buried, to pay homage to her. They gather on the Labor Day weekend because it is close to her birthdate. September 8, 2007, was the 20th annual gathering. Charlie and Julie and all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as other family members attended. Efforts to open a Patsy Cline museum in Winchester are ongoing.

In 2009, the Handley High School Auditorium in Winchester, Virginia was dedicated "The Patsy Cline Theatre" after a multi-million dollar renovation was completed at her former school, John Handley High School, originally built in 1923. The dedication was celebrated with a concert by Willie Nelson and Family. Nelson was a personal friend of Cline's, and wrote the Cline classic "Crazy".

On October 5, 2010 the "Patsy Cline Classic" at the Patsy Cline Theater in Winchester, VA welcomed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Members "The Beach Boys" to the theatre. Concert producers look forward to an annual concert in honor of Cline and to benefit the Winchester Education Foundation.

On October 6, 2010 Patsy Cline's "Crazy" was played at the beginning of Fringe.

Movies and documentaries

With Loretta Lynn's Coal Miner's Daughter book and hit motion picture making headlines, talk of a picture devoted solely to Cline's life story began. In 1985, HBO/Tri Star Pictures produced Sweet Dreams: The Life and Times of Patsy Cline, starring actress Jessica Lange, lip-syncing as Cline; actor Ed Harris as Cline’s husband, Charlie Dick; and actress Ann Wedgeworth as Hilda Hensley, Cline's mother.

The film depicted Cline's marriage to Dick as abusive, portraying Cline as a victim of domestic violence. Dottie West said of the couple's disagreements in a 1986 interview: "It was always very interesting to watch -- because you always knew Patsy was going to win! He was her man. He was her lover." Cline’s family and friends claimed that this and other sequences were inaccurately fictionalized for Hollywood and were not pleased with the final product. Cline's mother was quoted in a 1985 issue of People: "The producers told me they were going to make a love story. I saw the film once. That was enough. Jessica (Lange) did well with what she had to work with." Cline's widower, Charlie Dick, stated in the same article: "It's a great film -- if you like fiction."

The picture became a hit, and Lange was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance, one that she credits today as one of her favorites. The soundtrack to the film was a success, and Cline’s recordings began to climb the charts again.

Cline’s family and friends produced a series of video documentaries since Sweet Dreams including The Real Patsy Cline, Remembering Patsy, and most recently Sweet Dreams Still: The Live Collection. One of these, Remembering Patsy, was used on the A&E; Channel's show Biography in the 1990s.

Cline was portrayed again in the 1995 CBS made-for-television movie Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story featuring Tere Myers as Cline and Michelle Lee as West. In 2003, a biopic about the life of Hank Garland, lead guitarist on many of Cline's records, featured Mandy Barnett (of Always...Patsy Cline fame) as Cline.

Plays and musicals

A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, created by Dean Regan, and Always...Patsy Cline, created by Ted Swidley, are the only plays approved by the Patsy Cline Estate and licensed by Legacy, Inc., the company operated by the family. All Cline-related plays and merchandising are handled through the Legacy office in the Nashville area.

A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, created by Dean Regan in 1991, is a musical tribute which showcases her life and music. It has been produced across the United States and Canada in theaters from Texas to Toronto with multiple productions by the Springer Opera House and Troupe America, Inc. It also ran under the name Patsy! at the Grand Palace in Branson, Missouri for a year, starring Gail Bliss as Patsy Cline. Other celebrated performers in the role are Julie Johnson, Sara-Jeanne Hosie and Bridget Beirne.

Always...Patsy Cline, produced by Ted Swidley, premiered in 1993. The story was taken and expanded from a section of the Cline biography, Honky Tonk Angel, which chronicled the real-life story of her encounter in 1961 with a fan and Mississippi native, Louise Seger, who arrived early at The Esquire Ballroom in Houston for Cline's performance. In a chance encounter before the show, the two met, starting a lasting friendship.

In the musical, Cline expresses her worry to Seger over the attendance that night, and Seger tells her she'll have no problem filling the hall for both shows. She later persuades Cline to spend the night at her house rather than a hotel, they stay up all night girl-talking; and do a radio spot in the morning, surprising a local DJ in his sneakers, sweat-stained shorts and unshaven beard when they tap on his window.

Several weeks later, Seger would receive the first of many letters over the ensuing two year period prior to the singer's death, which when collected formed the basis for the musical, allowing the audience a rare and up-close look at the singer's daily life. The title of the musical came from the sign-off Cline used at the end of each letter. The revue has played across the U.S., running off-Broadway in New York City and for over a year at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, where it sold out nightly, starring singer Mandy Barnett.

Discography

;Studio albums

1957: Patsy Cline

1961: Patsy Cline Showcase

1962: Sentimentally Yours

;Posthumous studio albums

1964: A Portrait of Patsy Cline

1964: That's How a Heartache Begins

1980: Always

Cover versions of Cline songs

"Walkin' After Midnight" was recorded by Kellie Pickler and Madeleine Peyroux. Pickler originally sang the song on the 2006 season of American Idol. A live version of the song was covered by Bryan Adams, Garth Brooks, Kelly Clarkson and Megan Joy. Fiona Apple has also performed the song. Canadian folk-rockers Cowboy Junkies also recorded a version of the song, which appears on the band's 1990 album, The Trinity Sessions.

Also, the industrial band Braindead Soundmachine covered this in the early 1990s on the Wax Trax label including remixes by Industrial Rock Gurus KMFDM.

"I Fall to Pieces" was covered by country artists Michael Nesmith, LeAnn Rimes, Lynn Anderson, Linda Ronstadt, Loretta Lynn, Ray Price, the Greg Kihn Band and Willie Nelson. In 1992, it was covered by jazz guitarist Marc Ribot on the album Yo! I Killed Your God. In 1995, a cover by pop-punk band Screeching Weasel was included on their compilation release Kill the Musicians. In 2003, it was covered by Natalie Cole on a tribute CD to Cline.

"Crazy" (written by Nelson) has been covered by artists including Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Rogers, LeAnn Rimes, Diana DeGarmo, Loretta Lynn, Dottie West, Wanda Jackson, Julio Iglesias, Don McLean, Norah Jones, Kidneythieves and The Kills. The song has also been remixed by DJ Simple Simon and The Fabulous Wonder Twins.

"She's Got You" was recorded by Loretta Lynn, Jimmy Buffett, Dottie West, Lee Ann Womack, LeAnn Rimes, and Cat Power. It became a No. 1 hit for Lynn in 1977. Also, a version of the song titled "He's Got You" was covered by Ricky Van Shelton in 1990 and in 2004 by Elvis Costello on the album "Almost Blue".

"Leavin' On Your Mind" has been covered by LeAnn Rimes, Loretta Lynn and Rissi Palmer.

"Sweet Dreams", originally a hit for Faron Young in the 1950s, has been remade by both Emmylou Harris and Reba McEntire became hits for both of them in the 1970s. Other versions include Skeeter Davis, songwriter Don Gibson and Elvis Costello. There is also an instrumental version by guitarist Roy Buchanan, which was featured along with Cline's original in 2006's The Departed.

"Faded Love" has been recorded by Ray Price, Willie Nelson and Loretta Lynn. It was originally a hit for Bob Wills in 1950 and before that, an original fiddle instrumental Wills's father created. Wills's younger brother Billy Jack Wills wrote the lyrics.

"Imagine That" was covered by Sara Evans and was in her album Three Chords and the Truth.

"Strange" is covered by Sharam and Kid Cudi in a house remix titled "She Came Along" that was released in 2009.

Further reading

Bego, Mark. I Fall to Pieces: The Music and the Life of Patsy Cline. Adams Media Corporation.

Hazen, Cindy and Mike Freeman. Love Always, Patsy. The Berkley Publishing Group.

Jones, Margaret (1998). "Patsy Cline". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 98–9.

Nassour, Ellis. Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline. St. Martins Press.

Wolff, Kurt. Country Music: The Rough Guide. Penguin Publishing.

References

External links

Patsy Cline at the Country Music Hall of Fame

Patsy Cline Museum

Listing of all Patsy's songs and alternatives, dubs etc.

Love Always, Patsy - tribute site

Patsy Cline singing "Life's Railway to Heaven" duet with Willie Nelson backed by the Jordanaires

Category:1932 births Category:1963 deaths Category:Accidental deaths in Tennessee Category:American contraltos Category:American composers Category:American country pianists Category:American country singers Category:American female singers Category:American pop singers Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Decca Records artists Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Four Star Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:People from Winchester, Virginia Category:Southern gospel performers Category:Torch singers Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Category:Winchester, Virginia

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Patricia Manterola
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Bertha Patricia Manterola Carrión
Born	April 23, 1972
Origin	Mexico
Genre	pop-rock
Occupation	Singer, fashion designer, actress, model , TV presenter
Spouse	Xavier Ortiz (1999–2003)
Years active	1989–present
Label	Melody / Fonovisa, Del Angel Music, Sony BMG, Mi Rey Music
Url	PatriciaManterola.com

Patricia Manterola (born Bertha Patricia Manterola Carrión, April 23, 1972) is a Mexican singer, actress, model, and fashion designer born in Mexico City.

Background

Patricia Manterola Carrion was born to Jorge Manterola and Maria Dolores Carrion, the second of three children. Her brother, Jorge, is 11 months older than her, and her younger sister, Michelle, who shares the same birth date as Patricia, is eight years younger.

Paty—as she is also known—attended elementary school at "Colegio Miguel Angel" and "Franco-Espanol." She studied at "Colegio Oxford" in Cuernavaca during her middle school years, where she lived with her extended family for a while. For high school she attended "Tecnologico de Monterey" de Cuernavaca and graduated in Mexico City at "Colegio Miguel Angel."

In addition to her academics, Paty studied dance, voice, and music. She was the main voice in the chorus of the "Miguel Angel Institute." Since she was a little girl she demonstrated an affinity for the entertainment world, participating in school plays, until at the age of nine, she was part of the musical comedy "Anita la Huerfanita," (Little Orphan Annie).

Later, at the age of 12, she was part of the festival "Juguemos a Cantar," together with her brother, Jorge, and two friends, she made it to the finals, which allowed her to record on a compilation album edited for the festival.

Manterola soon entered the world of modeling, which allowed her to meet the Mexican producer Luis de Llano, in 1989, creator of the band, Timbiriche and a successful producer of telenovelas (soap operas). De Llano eventually suggested she audition for the group, but noticing her talent, invited her to be part of a new project known as Garibaldi banda

Personal life

On April 17, 1999, Paty married Javier Ortiz, a fellow ex-member of Garibaldi. Yet they divorced a little over five years later, in 2005. In a joint letter to the media, Manterola and Ortiz addressed their separation and asked for the public to respect their privacy during this difficult time. She is currently with Forrest Kolb with whom she is going to marry.

Acting

Manterola made her acting debut with "¿Dónde Quedó La Bolita?" (1993), a comedy featuring Garibaldi. In 1994, after a Garibaldi live performance in Acapulco, Manterola launched her solo career with the release of "Hambre de Amor." Paty's newfound notoriety allowed her to make the smooth transition into acting. Soon thereafter, Paty earned roles in various telenovelas (soap opera) such as "Acapulco, Cuerpo y Alma" (1995) and "Gente Bien" (1997). She received the newcomer of the year award from the Latin American soap opera magazine, TV y Novelas for her portrayal of Lorena on "Acapulco, Cuerpo y Alma."

Within a few years, Manterola was a sought after star, acting in several telenovelas such as: "Los Angeles de Charlie" (Charlie's Angels), "Apuesta por un Amor" (Gamble for Love), and "Destilando Amor." She has also done cameo appearances in "Ugly Betty," Muchas Muchachas and in La Fea Mas Bella.

While Manterola has received greater acclaim in her native Mexico, she has also had a transnational impact by appearing in American television and films. For instance, she has appeared in HBO's Arli$$, Souvenir (1997), The Hazard City (2000), (2000), and Carman: The Champion (2001).

In her role as Gabriela in the Dukes of Hazzard movie, Manterola demonstrated her bilingual ability as her character was pitted as Bo Duke's (John Schneider) love interest. A few years prior to the movie's release, she had enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to study English.

In addition, Manterola has roles in the upcoming movies, The Singer (2008) and The Perfect Game (2009).

Garibaldi

Garibaldi was a Mexican group of young men and women, wearing a very free version of the traditional charro costume while singing modern version of traditional songs, causing some controversy. The name Garibaldi comes from Plaza Garibaldi in Mexico City where mariachi bands can be found.

The former members, and their current occupations are:

Ingrid Coronado, television host

Katia Llanos

Patricia Manterola, singer/model/actress

Pilar Montenegro, singer

Víctor Noriega, actor

Luisa Fernanda, television host

Sergio Mayer, producer of Sólo para Mujeres

Charly López, restaurateur

Javier Ortiz, Sólo para Mujeres

Discography

1994: Hambre de Amor

1996: Nina Bonita

1998: Quiero Mas

2002: Que El Ritmo no Pare

2002: The Rhythm

2003: Dejame Volar

2007: A Mis Reinas

2009: Ya Terminé

Activism

Manterola has also been a noted defender of animal rights. On her personal website, Manterola declares: "Hasta los animales mas exoticos merecen vivir en libertad." ("Even the most exotic animals deserve to live in freedom.")

As such, in 2001 she posed nude on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In 2004, she protested Kentucky Fried Chicken's cruel treatment of chickens and urged the multimillion dollar corporation to adhere to a kindler, gentler methodology. More recently, Paty has advocated on behalf of the Monarch butterflies that migrate from Alaska to the Mexican state of Michoacán. She donated personal jewelry which was sold at auction to further the cause.

Manterola's altruism is not solely restricted to animal rights and the environment. In January 2006, she personally donated 1,500 toys for the children of the Delegacion Miguel Hidalgo in Chapultepec. "No hay con qué pagar la sonrisa de un niño," Manterola said.

Designing career

Since 2004, Manterola planned to open a business in the Mexican city of Puebla, launching her own line of jeans, "B-good," suitable for everybody (fat, slim, pregnant, children, etc.).

Commercials

1. Vanity Fair (1987) 2. Pepsico (1995–1997) 3. Andrea (1997–2002) 4. Mervyn's California (1998) 5. Miller Lite (2001) 6. Bally Total Fitness (2003 7. Dr Pepper (2003) with Ana Gabriel 8. Head & Shoulders (2005) 9. Maseca (2006) (Mundial) 10. Stop (2007)

References

Category:1972 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:People from Mexico City Category:Mexican female singers Category:Mexican film actors Category:Mexican pop singers Category:Mexican television actors Category:Mexican people of Basque descent

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Martina McBride
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Martina Mariea Schiff
Born	July 29, 1966
Origin	Sharon, Kansas, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Country, country pop, adult contemporary
Occupation	Singer-Songwriter, Producer
Years active	1992–present
Label	RCA Nashville(1992-2010)Republic Nashville(2010-Present)
Associated acts	Clint Black, Jim Brickman, Jimmy Buffett, Andy Griggs, Dolly Parton, Jason Sellers, Mindy McCready, Sara Evans
Url	Official Website

Martina McBride (born Martina Mariea Schiff on July 29, 1966, in Sharon, Kansas) is an American country music singer and songwriter. McBride has been called the "Céline Dion of Country Music" for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range.

McBride was signed to RCA Records in 1991 and made her debut the following year as a neo-traditionalist country singer with the single, "The Time Has Come." It was not until 1997, when she released her fourth album, Evolution, that she broke through into the country music industry with a new pop-styled crossover sound, similar to that of Faith Hill and Shania Twain. From that point on, McBride has had a string of major hit singles on the Billboard country chart and occasionally on the adult contemporary chart. Five of these singles went to #1 on the country chart between 1995 and 2001, and one peaked at #1 on the adult contemporary chart in 2003.

McBride has recorded a total of nine studio albums, one "greatest hits" compilation, one "live" album, a "Christmas" compilation, as well as two additional compilation albums. Seven of her studio albums and two of her compilations have received an RIAA certification of "Gold", or higher. Worldwide, she has sold over 18 million albums. In addition, Martina has won the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award four times (tied with Reba McEntire for the most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award three times. In her 19 year career she has accomplished many things including being named 2007's Top Grossing Country Artist of the year, and the over all Top Grossing Female in 2007 behind only Gwen Stefani.

Early life

McBride was born Martina Mariea Schiff in Sharon, Kansas, to Daryl and Jeanne (née Clark) Schiff on July 29, 1966. She has two brothers, Martin and Steve, who currently play in her concert band, and a sister, Gina.

She was raised in Sharon, Kansas, a small town with population of about 200. Her father, who was a farmer and cabinetry shop owner, exposed McBride to country music at a young age. Listening to country music helped her acquire a love for singing. After school, she would spend hours singing along to the records of such popular artists as Pat Benatar, Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt. Around the age of 8 or 9, McBride began singing with a band her father fronted, "The Schiffters." As Schiff grew older her role in the band progressively increased, from simply singing, to also playing keyboard with them. She enjoyed performing in her early years.

At the end of high school, Schiff was offered a scholarship to a local college, but she only attended it for one semester. She realized her passions lay in music and she began performing with local rock bands, including the Penetrators and Private Parts throughout her home area. In 1987, Schiff arranged a group of musicians and started to look for rehearsal space. She began renting space by studio engineer John McBride, whom Schiff met and became engaged to four months later.

After marrying McBride, the two moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1989 in the hope of beginning a career in country music. John McBride joined the sound crew of Garth Brooks and later become his concert production manager. Martina occasionally joined her husband on the road and helped sell Garth Brooks souvenirs. Brooks, who was impressed by McBride's enthusiastic spirit, offered her the position of his opening act on his 1992 tour, though only if she could obtain a recording contract. During this time, while her husband was working with country artists Charlie Daniels and Ricky Van Shelton, he also helped produce her a demo tape, which helped her gain a recording contract with RCA Nashville Records, in 1991. "Independence Day" won "Video of the Year" by the Country Music Association Awards, and since then she has rarely released a single without a music video to accompany it.

McBride's third studio album was 1995's Wild Angels, which spawned her third Top 10 hit, "Safe in the Arms of Love." The album's title track became her first #1 hit single in 1996. The album's final three singles released between 1996 and 1997, ("Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town," "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road," and "Swingin' Doors") only reached the Top 40 on the country chart.

Breakthrough: 1997-2003

In 1997, McBride released her fourth album, Evolution, which became her first Top 10 country album, reaching #4 on the Top Country Albums chart. The third single spawned from the album, "Valentine," a duet with Jim Brickman, produced by pop producer Dan Shea, was not just a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Country Chart, but also went to #3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart, giving her one of her first major hits on Adult Contemporary radio. From the album, McBride had two singles that reached #2 on the country charts, "Happy Girl" and "Whatever You Say," as well as two #1 singles, "A Broken Wing" and "Wrong Again." The album was McBride's breakthrough into the country music industry, after acquiring 5 Top 10 hits from it.

In 2003, McBride released her sixth studio album, Martina, which celebrated womanhood. The album included cover versions of country music standards, such as Hank Williams' "You Win Again," Loretta Lynn's "You Ain't Woman Enough," and Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night." To make the album fit its older style, McBride and her husband hired older Nashville session players and outdated analog equipment. The album was very successful, selling over 250,000 copies within its first week, the highest sales start for a Martina McBride album. McBride later joined Canadian Idol on a tour in the Spring. In 2007, McBride also served as a guest coach on Fox Networks television series, American Idol.

In 2007, McBride released her eighth studio album, Waking Up Laughing. It was the first album in which McBride co-wrote some of the tracks. She set up her Waking Up Laughing Tour in 2007, which included country artists Rodney Atkins, Little Big Town, and Jason Michael Carroll. McBride recently recorded an electronically-produced duet with the late Elvis Presley, performing his song "Blue Christmas" as a duet with him on his latest compilation, The Elvis Presley Christmas Duets. A compilation collection entitled was released on December 16, 2008 as part of Sony BMG Playlist series. The album features 11 previously released tracks and three unreleased tracks.

Shine: 2009-2010

Martina McBride wrapped up production of her tenth studio album in late 2008. The first single, "Ride", was released to radio in October 2008 and debuted at #43 on the Hot Country Songs chart. It barely missed the Top 10 on the chart, peaking at #11 in March 2009. A music video produced by Kristin Barlowe was also released at the end of the year. The album, Shine, was released by RCA Records on March 24, 2009, and debuted at the top of the U.S. Country album chart as well as #10 on the Billboard 200. McBride co-produced the album with Dann Huff, and it featured "Sunny Side Up", a song that she co-wrote.

The second single, "I Just Call You Mine", was released in May 2009 and reached the Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at #18 in December 2009. A music video produced by Theresa Wengert was also released in June 2009.

McBride also initiated the Shine All Night Tour, a co-headlining venture with fellow country star and friend Trace Adkins and opening act Sarah Buxton. The tour began in November 2009 and ended in May 2010.

On July 15, 2009 she performed on the Today Show Throws a Wedding reception.

In May 2010, Martina was nominated for the first round of CMT Music awards, but lost the second round to Mirand Lambert, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood & Taylor Swift.

On June 10, 2010, Billboard announced that McBride has collaborated on a song with Kid Rock for his upcoming new album. The song will also feature rapper T.I. In late June 2010, Martina was nominated for a Teen Choice Award, "Favorite Country Female Artist", alongside country stars Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift & Gretchen Wilson.

The third single from the critically acclaimed album "Shine" was "Wrong Baby Wrong." It was released in February 2010, and has peaked at #11 on the Hot Country Singles Charts, and became her highest charting single (reaching #74) on the Hot 100 Charts since "Anyway" in 2006.

In late 2010 Martina McBride was nominated for 2 American Country Awards (Best Female Single & Touring Artist of the year w/ Trace Adkins.) Along with the ACA nominations, she recived her 14th Female Vocalist nomination for Country Music Association in October.

McBride exited RCA in November 2010 and signed with Republic Nashville.

Future Projects: 2011-present

After exiting RCA Nashville Records, and entering Republic Nashville, McBride announced that she had started working on her 11th studio album, with Bryan Gallimore who has also produced projects with Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw.

Charity work

Martina McBride works with a variety of charities. She is currently the spokeswoman for the "National Domestic Violence Hotline" as well as for the "National Network to End Domestic Violence" and national spokeswoman for the Tulsa Domestic Violence and Intervention Services. Every year since 1995, she has hosted Middle Tennessee's YWCA, "Celebrity Auction", and it has raised nearly $400,000 so far. In 2004, she worked with "Kids Wish Network" to fulfill the wish of a young girl dying from Muscular Dystrophy. McBride was awarded the "Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award" in 2003.

McBride explained that educating girls and women on domestic violence is something she works on at home with her own daughters, stating that: }}

McBride has also teamed up with, "Loveisrespect, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline," working with them on a new program called, "My Time to Shine."

McBride appeared on the Stand up 2 Cancer telethon in September 2010. alongside Leona lewis, Aaron Neville, and Stevie Wonder, she performed Unchained Melody. Also in 2010 she hosted the YWCA again, for the 16th year raising over 50,000 dollars this year, it totals over 500,000 dollars raised so far.

Personal life

McBride has been married to sound engineer John McBride, since May 15, 1988. The couple has three daughters: Delaney Katharine (b. 22 December 1994), Emma Justine (b. 29 March 1998), and Ava Rose Kathleen (b. 20 June 2005).

Discography

;Main albums

1992: The Time Has Come

1993: The Way That I Am

1995: Wild Angels

1997: Evolution

1998: White Christmas

1999: Emotion

2001: Greatest Hits

2003: Martina

2005: Timeless

2007: Waking Up Laughing

2009: Shine

2008:

2008:

Tours

"Timeless Tour" 2006

"The Waking Up Laughing Tour" 2007/2008 (w/ Rodney Atkins and Little Big Town)

"Shine All Night Tour" 2009/2010 (w/ Trace Adkins, Blake Shelton, The Lost Trailers and Sarah Buxton).

Musical Style & Legacy

McBride's style has been referred to as country/pop, which occasional singles would cross-over to the Adult Contepmprary Chart, and the Bubbling Under Chart. Perhaps her most successful cross over single would be "Anyway". The single charted of-course on the Hot Country Singles Chart, as well on the Hot 100, Hot Adult Contemporary, Hot Adult Christian Contemporary, Hot Christian, Hot Pop Singles, and the Bubbling Under chart. In 2005, Country Weekly announced their first ever Most Beautiful Women competition. The fans would go on Country Weekly's website, or send in their ballot, and the votes were counted. McBride placed at number 4 in 2005. Since then McBride has been featured in the Most Beautiful issue since then with these following positions: 2005, #4. 2006, #5. 2007, #6. 2008, #6. 2009, #8. 2010, #10. McBride has said in many interviews, etc. that she is and has been very influenced by Reba McEntire. She even dedicated her first ever ACM Award to McEntire during the 2002 broadcast of the award ceremony. McBride, and McEntire has been seen performing together, including when McBride was featured in McEntires' Giants episode on CMT. In 2005, Carrie Underwood mentioned in her American Idol audition that she liked McBride's singing, and that she was an influence to her. Later in the season she performed one of McBride's most recognizable songs "Independence Day". McBride has been referred to as the Queen of Country many times, including placing above the rankings of Dolly Parton, and Loretta Lynn. With nearly over 20 million records sold world-wide, she has been recognized as one of the Most Influential Country Stars in history. She has also been defined as the best voice in country music and one of the best vocalists music has ever seen. The biggest shock people have about McBride, is that she has yet to win even one Grammy Award. Even though she has been featured on the show multiple times, and honored with over 10 nominations, she has never won, music's highest honor. In 2007, McBride was honored with her own star on the Walk of Fame. Which some might say was a long time over-due.

Awards

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" Country Music superstar Martina McBride has accepted over 15 major music awards including matching Reba McEntire's record for most wins for the CMA's Female Vocalist in 2004. She also has accepted the Flameworthy's (or now called CMT Video Awards) Female Video award twice, sharing the record for most wins with Carrie Underwood & Taylor Swift. She has been nominated for over 10 Grammy Awards, but never won. McBride is also known as winning the AMA's, ACM's, & CMA's, Female Vocalist of The Year, two of them being multiple times. |- ! Year ! Award ! Category ! Result |- | 1993 | Academy of Country Music Awards | New Female Vocalist of The Year | Nominated |- | 1994 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Music Video of The Year | Nominated |- | 1994 | Country Music Association Awards | Horizon | Nominated |- | 1994 | Country Music Association Awards | Music Video of the Year for "Independence Day" | Won |- | 1995 | Grammy Awards | Best Country/Western Vocal Performance | Nominated

|- | 1996 | TNN/Music City News | Music Video of the Year for "Independence Day" | Won |- | 1996 | Grammy Awards | Best Country/Western Vocal Performance | Nominated |- | 1996 | Country Music Association | Album of The Year | Nominated |- | 1996 | Country Music Association | Female Vocalist of The Year | Nominated |- | 1997 | Academy of Country Music | Music Video of The Year "A Broken Wing" | Nominated |- | 1997 | Academy of Country Music | Top Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 1998 | Country Music Association | Female Vocalist of The Year | Nominated |- | 1998 | Country Music Association | Single of The Year "A Broken Wing" | Nominated |- | 1998 | Academy of Country Music | Single Record of The Year | Nominated |- | 1998 | Academy of Country Music | Top Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 1999 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist | Nominated |- | 1999 | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | Won |- | 1999 | Academy of Country Music | Top Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 2000 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist | Nominated |- | 2000 | Grammy Awards | Country Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 2000 | Academy of Country Music | Top Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 2000 | Country Music Association | Female Vocalist of The Year | Nominated |- | 2001 | Flameworthy Awards | Video Dierector "Blessed" | Nominated |- | 2001 | Flameworthy Awards | Laugh Out Loud Video "When God Fearin Women" | Nominated |- | 2001 | Flameworthy Awards | Fashion Plate Video "Blessed" | Nominated |- | 2001 | Flameworthy Awards | Female Video of the Year for "Blessed" | Won |- | 2001 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | Won |- | 2001 | Country Music Association | Female Vocalist of The Year | Nominated |- | 2002 | Flameworthy Awards | Concept Video "Concrete Angel" | Nominated |- | 2002 | Country Music Association | Single of The Year "Blessed" | Nominated |- | 2002 | Billboard Music Awards | Country Female Artist of The Year | Nominated |- | 2002 | Flameworthy Awards | Video of The Year "Concrete Angel" | Nominated |- | 2002 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | Won |- | 2002 | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | Won |- | 2002 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | Won |- | 2003 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Country Vocal Performance | Nominated |- | 2003 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Album of The Year "Martina" | Nominated |- | 2003 | Academy of Country Awards | Humanitarian of The Year | Won |- | 2003 | Flameworthy Awards | Female Video of the Year "Concrete Angel" | Won |- | 2003 | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | Won |- | 2003 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist | Won |- | 2004 | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | Won |- | 2004 | Grammy Awards | Best Short Form Music Video "Concrete Angel" | Nominated |- | 2004 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 2004 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Country Vocal Performance | Nominated |- | 2004 | Flameworthy Awards | Most Inspiring Video "Gods Will" | Nominated |- | 2004 | Flameworthy Awards | Female Video "How Far" | Nominated |- | 2004 | Billboard Music Awards | Female Country Artist of The Year | Nominated |- | 2004 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Artist | Nominated |- | 2004 | American Music Awards | Favorite Country Album | Nominated |- | 2005 | CMT Video Awards | Most Inspiring Video "Gods Will | Nominated |- | 2005 | CMT Video Awards | Female Video "Gods Will" | Nominated |- | 2005 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Country Vocal Performance | Nominated |- | 2005 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 2005 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist | Nominated |- | 2006 | Grammy Awards | Best Short Form Music Video "Gods Will" | Nominated |- | 2006 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 2007 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist | Nominated |- | 2007 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Country Vocal Performance | Nominated |- | 2007 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 2007 | Country Music Association | Female Vocalist of The Year | Nomnated |- | 2007 | Country Music Association | Music Video of Th Year "Anyway" | Nominated |- | 2007 | Country Music Associatin | Single of The Yeat "Anyway" | Nominated |- | 2007 | Country Music Association | Song of The Year "Anyway" | Nominated |- | 2007 | BMI | Song of The Year "Anyway" | Nominated |- | 2007 | BMI | Most Played Song of The Year "Anyway" | Won |- | 2007 | Billboard Music Awards | Top Country Grossing Tour of The Year | Won |- | 2007 | ASCAP | Female Song of The Year "Anyway" | Won |- | 2007 | ASCAP | Song of The Year "Anyway" | Won |- | 2008 | CMT Video Awards | Female Video "Anyway" | Nominated |- | 2008 | Academy of Country Music | Top Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 2008 | Country Music Association | Female Vocalist of The Year | Nominated |- | 2009 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Country Vocal Performance | Nominated |- | 2009 | Country Music Association | Female Vocalist | Nominated |- | 2009 | CMT Video Awards | Female Video "Ride" | Nominated |- | 2010 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Country Vocal Performance | Nominated |- | 2010 | Teen Choice Awards | Female Country Artist | Nominated |- | 2010 | CMT Video Awards | Female Video "I Just Call You Mine" | Nominated |- | 2010 | American Country Awards | Single by A Female Artist "Wrong Baby Wrong" | Nominated |- | 2010 | American Country Awards | Touring Artist of The Year | Nominated |- | 2010 | Country Music Association | Female Vocalist | Nominated |}

References

External links

Official Website

Martina Official Music Videos

Category:1966 births Category:American Christians Category:American country singers Category:American female singers Category:American musicians of German descent Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Musicians from Kansas Category:Living people Category:People from Barber County, Kansas Category:RCA Records artists Category:Republic Records artists

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Johnny Tillotson
Background	solo_singer
Born	April 20, 1939Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Instrument	singing
Genre	country, pop
Occupation	singer, songwriter
Years active	Since 1957
Url	JohnnyTillotson.com

Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1939, Jacksonville, Florida) is an American singer and songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored several Top Ten hits including "Poetry In Motion" and the self-penned "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'." He also sang "Yellow Bird" an adaptation of the Haitian song Choucoune.

Life and career

He is the son of Doris and Jack Tillotson, a country music disc jockey, and was raised from the age of 9 in Palatka, Florida. He began to perform at local functions and on his father's radio station as a child, and while attending Palatka Senior High School developed a local reputation as a talented singer. He became a regular on the Toby Dowdy regional TV show in Jacksonville, and then had his own TV show on WDGA-TV. In 1957, while studying at the University of Florida, he entered a national talent contest and won through to the final round in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was heard by Archie Bleyer, owner of the independent Cadence Records. Bleyer signed Tillotson to a three-year contract, and issued his first single, "Dreamy Eyes" / "Well I'm Your Man" in September 1958. Both songs had been written by Tillotson, and both made the Billboard Hot 100, "Dreamy Eyes" peaking at # 63. After graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Communications, Tillotson moved to New York City to pursue his music career.

From late 1959, a succession of singles - "True True Happiness," "Why Do I Love You So," and a double-sided single covering the R&B; hits "Earth Angel" and "Pledging My Love" - all reached the bottom half of the Hot 100. His biggest success came with his sixth single, the up-tempo "Poetry in Motion", written by Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony, and recorded in Nashville with session musicians including saxophonist Boots Randolph and pianist Floyd Cramer. Released in September 1960, it went to # 2 on the Hot 100 in the US, and # 1 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1961. On Bleyer's advice, Tillotson focused primarily on his recording career, but also appeared on television and began to be featured as a teen idol in magazines. His follow-up record, "Jimmy's Girl," only reached # 25 in the US charts and # 43 in the UK; after that, "Without You" returned him to the US Top Ten but failed to make the UK charts. |- | rowspan="2"| 1958 | "Dreamy Eyes" / "Well I'm Your Man"* | align="center"| 63 / 87* | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson (EP) |- | "I'm Never Gonna Kiss You" (with Genevieve) | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Single only |- | 1959 | "True True Happiness" | align="center"| 54 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson (EP) |- | rowspan="3"| 1960 | "Why Do I Love You So" | align="center"| 42 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="4"| This Is Johnny Tillotson |- | "Earth Angel" / "Pledging My Love"* | align="center"| 57 / 63* | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Poetry in Motion" | align="center"| 2 | align="center"| 27 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 1 |- | rowspan="2"| 1961 | "Jimmy's Girl" | align="center"| 25 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 43 |- | "Without You" | align="center"| 7 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson's Best |- | rowspan="6"| 1962 | "Dreamy Eyes" (re-issue) | align="center"| 35 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin'" | align="center"| 3 | align="center"| 6 | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 31 | rowspan="5"| It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin' |- | "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" | align="center"| 17 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 11 | align="center"| 5 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 21 |- | "What'll I Do?" | align="center"| 106 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" | align="center"| 89 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)" | align="center"| 24 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 8 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 41 |- | rowspan="4"| 1963 | "Out of My Mind" | align="center"| 24 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 11 | align="center"| — | align="center"| 34 | Greatest |- | "You Can Never Stop Me Loving You" | align="center"| 18 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Judy, Judy, Judy |- | "Talk Back Trembling Lips" | align="center"| 7 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 6 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Talk Back Trembling Lips |- | "Funny How Time Slips Away" | align="center"| 50 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 16 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin' |- | rowspan="5"| 1964 | "I'm a Worried Guy" | align="center"| 37 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Talk Back Trembling Lips |- | "Please Don't Go Away" | align="center"| 112 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I Rise, I Fall" | align="center"| 37 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| The Tillotson Touch |- | "Worry" | align="center"| 45 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 5 | align="center"| 36 | align="center"| — |- | "She Understands Me" | align="center"| 31 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| 25 | align="center"| — | She Understands Me |- | rowspan="4"| 1965 | "Angel" | align="center"| 51 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 33 | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson Sings |- | "Then I'll Count Again" | align="center"| 86 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| - | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| That's My Style |- | "Heartaches by the Number" | align="center"| 35 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 4 | align="center"| 14 | align="center"| — |- | "Our World" | align="center"| 70 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 23 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson Sings |- | rowspan="5"| 1966 | "I Never Loved You Anyway" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Country Boy" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Johnny Tillotson Sings Tillotson |- | "What Am I Gonna Do" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | No Love at All |- | "Open Up Your Heart" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | Single only |- | "Christmas Country Style" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | The Christmas Touch |- | rowspan="3"| 1967 | "Tommy Jones" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Here I Am |- | "Don't Tell Me It's Raining" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "You're the Reason" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 48 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | The Best of Johnny Tillotson |- | rowspan="3"| 1968 | "I Can Spot a Cheater" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 63 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| Singles only |- | "Why So Lonely" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Letter to Emily" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="3"| 1969 | "Tears on My Pillow" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 94 | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| Tears on My Pillow |- | "Joy to the World" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Raining in My Heart" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="2"| 1970 | "Susan" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Singles only |- | "I Don't Believe in If Anymore" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="3"| 1971 | "Apple Bend" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson (1970) |- | "Welfare Hero" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Make Believe" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="7"| Singles only |- | rowspan="3"| 1973 | "Your Love's Been a Long Time Comin'" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "If You Wouldn't Be My Lady"^A | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "I Love How She Needs Me" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | 1974 | "Till I Can't Take It Anymore" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="2"| 1975 | "Mississippi Lady" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Right Here in Your Arms" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | 1976 | "Summertime Lovin'" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Johnny Tillotson (1977) |- | 1977 | "Toy Hearts" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 99 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | 1979 | "Poetry in Motion" (re-issue) / "Princess Princess" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 67 | rowspan="2"| Singles only |- | 1984 | "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| 91 | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |}

^A"If You Wouldn't Be My Lady" peaked at #77 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.

References

External links

Johnny Tillotson official website

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:American pop singers Category:Songwriters from Florida Category:MGM Records artists Category:Apex Records artists Category:People from Jacksonville, Florida Category:University of Florida alumni

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Jimmy Dean
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Jimmy Ray Dean
Born	August 10, 1928Plainview, Texas, United States
Died	June 13, 2010Varina, Virginia, United States (August 10, 1928 – June 13, 2010) was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad John". His acting career included a supporting role in the 1971 James Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever. He lived near Richmond, Virginia and was nominated for the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010, although he was formally inducted posthumously.
Name	Dean, Jimmy Ray
Alternative names	Jimmy Dean
Short description	United States recording artist and businessman
Date of birth	1928-08-10
Place of birth	Plainview, Texas
Date of death	2010-06-13
Place of death	Varina, Virginia

Category:1928 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American country singers Category:American film actors Category:American television personalities Category:American food industry businesspeople Category:People from Hale County, Texas Category:People from Plainview, Texas Category:People from Henrico County, Virginia Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Four Star Records artists Category:Starday Records artists Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Apex Records artists Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Baptists from the United States Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Francesca Battistelli
Background	solo_singer
Born	May 18, 1985
Origin	New York City, New York, USA
Instrument	Vocals, Guitar, Piano
Genre	CCM, Pop, Soul
Occupation	Singer, songwriter
Years active	2002–present
Label	Fervent Records, Warner Bros. Records
Spouse	Matthew Goodwin (August 27, 2009-present)
Url	francescamusic.com

Francesca Battistelli (born May 18, 1985) is an Italian American Christian musician from New York City, New York. She was originally an independent artist and had released an independent album, Just a Breath, in 2004. Her first studio album on Fervent Records, My Paper Heart, was released on July 22, 2008. Her first single, "I'm Letting Go", was released to radio stations in spring of 2008 and has charted on national Christian CHR charts since then. The song was the 16th most played song of 2008 on Christian radio stations according to R&R; magazine. Francesca Battistelli has received her first Grammy Award 2009 nomination for "Best Gospel Performance" with her single Free To Be Me.

Biography

Early life

Battistelli was born on May 18, 1985 in New York City. She grew up in a musical family with both of her parents involved in musical theatre. "There was just something about live theater—especially musical theater—that has always resonated with me" she said.

When she was 15, however, she became a member of the Orlando, Florida all-girl mainstream pop group Bella. The group's touring performances included singing and dancing, which were "two things I loved", she said. The album was produced by Dove Award-winning producer Ian Eskelin, and was published through Word Distribution. Her first radio single, "I'm Letting Go", was released in spring 2008. The song had reached into the top 20 on R&R;'s Christian CHR charts by May 30, 2008. In early July 2008, the song reached #10 on Christian CHR charts. In late 2008, she guested on a tour with Aaron Shust and NewSong.

Her debut single "I'm Letting Go" reached #3 on R&R;'s Christian CHR and AC charts during mid to late 2008. Her next single, "Free to Be Me", reached #1 on the R&R; Christian CHR format in March 2009, and has held the top position for 9 consecutive weeks through the beginning of May. On November 23, 2009, Battistelli's song "It's Your Life" was featured on the series finale of Jon & Kate Plus 8, is realized on the same day the EP of "It's Your Life" on iTunes USA that contains all the singles from that album and a special version of "It's Your Life Dented Fender Session". It's Your Life Peaked at Top 200 Itunes USA and join the 46 positions and 29 on Itunes Canada.

Style

Battistelli's music has been given several different genre labels. A reviewer once said that "Battistelli's soulful piano-pop sound resembles a blend of her music interests—jazz, rock, gospel and R&B;." Battistelli stated that when she first began writing music, "I really longed to bring something authentic to the [Christian music] scene that even non-Christians could listen to." Battistelli announced at the April 2010 Dove Awards that they were expecting a baby sometime in October of that year. Their first child, a son, named Matthew Elijah Goodwin, was born September 22, 2010.

Discography

2004: Just a Breath

2008: I'm Letting Go EP (iTunes Exclusive) (Fervent)

2008: My Paper Heart (Fervent) – reached #35 on the Billboard 200

2010: My Paper Heart (Dented Fender Sessions) EP (iTunes Exclusive) (Fervent)

2011: Hundred More Years (March 1, 2011)

Singles

"I'm Letting Go" – Billboard Christian Songs #1 ,Peaked at #10 on national Christian CHR charts, including the top 3 on R&R; magazine "Free to Be Me" – Billboard Christian Songs #3 ,#1 on R&R;'s Christian CHR format for seven consecutive weeks; #117 US "It's Your Life" - Billboard Christian Songs #12, #95 U.S. Hot 100

"Lead Me to the Cross" - iTunes Single

"Beautiful, Beautiful" - Billboard Christian Songs #6

Music videos

"I'm Letting Go"

"Free to Be Me

"Beautiful, Beautiful"

Awards

;GMA Dove Award nominations

2009: Female Vocalist of the Year

2009: New Artist of the Year

2009: Song of the Year ("I'm Letting Go")

2009: Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year ("I'm Letting Go")

References

External links

Official website

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:American performers of Christian music Category:Christian songwriters Category:Musicians from New York City Category:University of Central Florida alumni Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American pianists Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American Christians

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Don Williams
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Don Williams
Alias	The Gentle Giant of Country Music
Born	May 27, 1939Floydada, Texas, U.S.
Genre	Country, Country rock, Pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, Musician
Instrument	vocals, Guitar, Piano, Bass
Years active	1971–2010
Label	Columbia, Dot, ABC, MCA, Capitol, RCA, Giant, Koch
Url	Don Williams.com

Don Williams (born May 27, 1939 in Floydada, Texas), is an American country singer, songwriter and a 2010 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He grew up in Portland, Texas, and graduated in 1958 from Gregory-Portland High School. After seven years with the folk-pop group Pozo-Seco Singers, he began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing 17 No. 1 hits.

His straightforward yet smooth bass-baritone voice, soft tones, and an imposing build earned him the nickname "The Gentle Giant" of country music.

Early career

He began playing guitar as a teenager, which he learned from his mother. While a teenager, he played with country, rock n' roll and folk bands. He formed his first band with Lofton Kline, called The Strangers Two, and in 1964 was approached by Susan Taylor to form a trio which ultimately became the Pozo-Seco Singers, a folk-pop group. The band recorded a song called, "Time" on a local label called Edmark Records and it became a regional hit in their home state of Texas. Columbia Records, picked up the record, signed the group, and released a series of Top 50 hits and three albums. The group disbanded in 1971, at which point Williams embarked on a solo career.

Solo career

Williams started out as a songwriter for Jack Music Inc. Eventually, he signed with JMI Records as a solo artist. His 1974 song, "We Should Be Together," reached number five, and he signed with ABC/Dot Records. His first single with ABC/Dot, "I Wouldn't Want to Live If You Didn't Love Me," became a number one hit, and was the first of a string of top ten hits he had between 1974 and 1991 . Only four of his 46 singles didn't make it to the Top Ten.

Early in 2006, Williams announced his "Farewell Tour of the World" and played numerous dates both in the U.S. and abroad, wrapping the tour up with the "Final Farewell Concert" in Memphis, Tennessee at the Cannon Center for Performing Arts on November 21, 2006. Playing to a full house, the final event was well received and quite emotional for fans in attendance.

As of Fall, 2010, Williams had come out of retirement and was once again touring.

Don married Joy Bucher on April 10, 1960. They have two sons, Gary and Tim.

Recognition

In 1978, Don Williams was the Country Music Association's "Male Vocalist of the Year" and his "Tulsa Time" was named Single of the Year. His hits have been covered by artists such as Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Lefty Frizzell, Josh Turner, Sonny James, Alison Krauss, Billy Dean, Charley Pride, Kenny Rogers, Lambchop, Alan Jackson, Waylon Jennings, Pete Townshend and Tortoise (band) with Bonnie "Prince" Billy. His music is also popular internationally, including Great Britain, Australia, India and Nigeria. On February 23, 2010, the Country Music Association announced that Don Williams was to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Discography

References

Don Williams biography at VH1

External links

Official Site

Fan Site

"Don Williams Yahoo Group" Yahoo group for Don William's fans

Don Williams at CMT

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:People from Floyd County, Texas Category:People from San Patricio County, Texas Category:American male singers Category:Songwriters from Texas Category:American country musicians Category:American country singers Category:E1 Music artists Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees