"No Charge"' is a country music song, written by songwriter Harlan Howard, and made famous by country singer Melba Montgomery in 1974.

Melba Montgomery had already recorded a series of duets hits with country music artists George Jones, Charlie Louvin, and Gene Pitney during the 1960s (the most successful of those being "We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds" with Jones). In the early 1970s, she began focusing on a solo career, but did not have notable success.

Eventually, she began recording for Elektra Records, where her struggles continued. Then, Howard forwarded a song to Montgomery he thought would be perfect for her: "No Charge." She recorded "No Charge" in early 1974, and it was released that April. By the end of May, Montgomery enjoyed her first taste of solo success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart. The song also reached No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100.

A young boy hands his mother an itemized list of charges he says he's owed for performing various chores and comes to collect; the singer performs this in spoken word. The mother responds (singing) by reminding her son about all the things she's done for him, that she never asked him to pay for services rendered and that, all things considered, "the cost of real love is no charge."

Shirley Ann Caesar (born October 13, 1938, Durham, North Carolina) is an American Gospel music singer, songwriter and recording artist whose career has spanned six decades. A multi-award winning artist, with eleven Grammy Awards and seven Dove Awards to her credit, she is known as "First Lady of gospel".

Beginning recording at the age of 13 in 1951, Shirley Caesar has released over forty albums, exploring her gift and spreading messages of faith. She has participated in over 16 compilations and three gospel musicals, Mama I Want to Sing, Sing: Mama 2 and Born to Sing: Mama 3.

Her credits also include a series of commercials for MCI Communications and several awards for her recordings. She has won or received 11 Grammy Awards, 13 Stellar Awards, 18 Doves, 1 RIAA gold certification, an Essence Award, McDonald's Golden Circle Lifetime Achievement Award, NAACP Achievement Award, SESAC Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. According to Soundscan, she has sold 2.2 million albums since 1991. Pastor Shirley has made several notable appearances including the televised Live from Disney World Night of Joy, the Gospel According to VH1, a White House performance for George Bush, and a speech on the Evolution of Gospel Music to the US Treasury Department

Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette, (May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling woman singers.

Wynette was sometimes called the "First Lady of Country Music", and her best-known song, Stand by Your Man, was one of the best-selling hit singles by a woman in the history of the country music genre. Many of Wynette's hits dealt with classic themes of loneliness, divorce, and the difficulties of man-woman relationships. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wynette ranked high in the country sales charts with 17 number-one songs. Along with Loretta Lynn, Lynn Anderson, and Dolly Parton, Wynette defined the role of women in country music during the 1970s.

Wynette's marriage to the country singer George Jones in 1969, which end in divorce in 1975, created a country music "couple", following the earlier success of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Jones and Wynette recorded a sequence of duet albums and single records that hit the charts throughout the 1970s.

John R. "Johnny" Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003), was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Although he is primarily remembered as a country music icon, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—as well as blues, folk, and gospel. This crossover appeal led to Cash being inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Cash was known for his deep, distinctive bass-baritone voice; for the "boom-chicka-boom" sound of his Tennessee Three backing band; for his rebelliousness, coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor; for providing free concerts inside prison walls; and for his dark performance clothing, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black". He traditionally started his concerts by saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." and usually following it up with his standard "Folsom Prison Blues".

Melba Montgomery (born October 14, 1938) is an American country music singer. She is best known for duet hit recordings in the 1960s with country music singer George Jones.

In the 1970s, Montgomery was a successful solo artist in her own right. Her best-known solo hit is the No. 1 hit, "No Charge".

Born October 14, 1938, in Iron City, Tennessee, and raised in Florence, Alabama, Montgomery gained her first exposure to music through her father, a fiddler and guitarist who taught vocal lessons at the town's Methodist church. She started playing guitar at the age of ten. Music became a very important part of Montgomery's life and she soon had serious dreams about achieving success in the country music industry.

At age 20, she and her brother won an amateur talent contest held at Nashville radio station WSM's Studio C, which then housed the Grand Ole Opry.

With the help of Acuff, Montgomery gained a recording contract with United Artists Records by 1962.

Montgomery went solo in 1962. She wrote "We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds", which she sang with George Jones. The song spent over thirty weeks on the Billboard Country chart, and peaked at No. 3 by 1963. It became the duo's best-known song together. The single's success brought a successful duet album with Jones as well (What's in Our Hearts), which released two other Top 20 hit singles, "Let's Invite Them Over" and "What's in Our Hearts".