Kitty Wells
Kitty Wells ( born August 30, 1919 as Ellen Muriel Deason in Nashville, Tennessee, † July 16, 2012 ibid ) was an American country music singer.
The "Queen of Country Music " in 1952 known with the song It Was not God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels. It is regarded as the first female superstar of country music.
Life
As a teenager Kitty Wells appeared together with her sisters as Deason Sisters on the local radio station. There she met the country musician Johnny Wright, whom she married in 1937 and who is also her manager was. With his sister Louise she appeared as Johnny Wright and the Harmony Girls. Louise's husband, Jack Anglin, 1939 joined the trio. Even the famous later as producers superstar Chet Atkins played intermittently with the band. Beginning in 1945, Wright and Anglin formed the fairly successful duo Johnny and Jack. The later "Queen of Country Music " came from then on as a soloist under the name Kitty Wells, who was chosen by her husband and a well-known folk song was taken from.
Career
1949 played both Johnny and Jack and Kitty Wells at RCA singles a few, but not very well sold. The record company decided not to further cooperation with Wells as country musicians had little winning promising in these years. They therefore withdrew into private life and devoted himself to the education of her daughter.
She was offered in 1952 by Decca producer Paul Cohen, It Was not God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels einzuspielen as feminist oriented answer song to Hank Thompson's The Wild Side of Life - This song contained the line " I Did not Know God Made Honky Tonk Angels ". The single was one of the biggest country hits of the fifties and held for six weeks at the top of the charts. For the first time a singer had reached number one in the country charts. This success paved the way for future stars like Patsy Cline or Loretta Lynn. The music industry finally recognized the commercial potential of country singers.
Their next single, Paying For That Back Street Affair ( an answer song to Webb Pierce's Backstreet Affair ), made it into the top 10. Kitty Wells was so firmly established in the country scene. Your winning streak lasted until well into the sixties on. Overall, it was able to record 23 top 10 hits, including 1955 Making Believe, 1956 Searching, 1958 Jealousy, 1961 Heartbreak USA. Even after the sales had subsided and she had to switch to smaller labels, they remained a popular singer. In 1976, she was taken with her deceased producer Paul Cohen at the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1991, she won a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement ( " Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award ").
Kitty Wells and Johnny Wright have eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. 1983 opened the two in the Madison Family Country Junction Museum. In October 2000, it was closed again, the Junction Recording Studio, which was in 1987 to come to the museum complex, but survived - through the use of John Sturdivant Jr, a grandson of the two.
The couple was together with his son Bobby on 31 December 2000, the final farewell concert at the Nashville Nightlife Theater. They sang in front of many fans, friends and loved ones. Here, have included Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, Marty Stuart, Connie Smith, Leona Williams, Larry Stephenson, Tommy Cash, Jack Greene, and Jean Shepard.
30 October 2010 Kitty Wells and Johnny Wright celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary. The following year, on 27 September 2011, shortly before the 74th wedding anniversary, Wright died at the age of 97 years.