The Ladies of Country Music

Today, country music is a fairly mainstream genre and crossover artists happen more often than not. Mixing other rhythms with country has become a rule of thumb and country artists appeal to any audience, anywhere, due to their modern sound and image. But it wasn't always like this; to get to this point, many generations of ladies have been pushing the boundaries and  breaking the rules of this once-conservative genre, making it possible for female artists of this generation to have fairly unlimited freedom in their careers. This article chronicles the lives and careers of the most important women in country music history: what they did, how they did it, how they influenced and/or changed country music and why they are still significant to this day. Sit back and relax as I take you through over 50 years of boots, banjos, hairspray and rhinestones.

Kitty Wells

Kitty Wells was the very first female country star in history! She was the first female to top the country charts with her signature song “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”. She is the sixth most successful female singer in the history of Billboard’s country charts, behind Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, Tammy Wynette and Tanya Tucker.
When Wells began her career, there was really no one else there,

no woman she could get inspiration from. She simply sang her songs and became known for that. Saying that she opened doors for future female country singers is an understatement; before Kitty Wells, there wasn’t even a door there! She made it possible for women to have a career as a solo artist in country music, one of the most conservative genres out there.
Wells was described by everyone who knew her as a good Christian woman. She was no honky tonk angel herself; she was a trusting wife who was strong in her faith. Born in Nashville, she had country running through her veins. Country stars are known for their big hairdos and rhinestones, but Wells was from another time. She was a simple looking woman who looked more like someone’s aunt than a famous singer.
It is no surprise that her signature song (which was a response to Hank Thompsons’ “The Wild Side of Life”) got so much attention; here was a country lady singing about men being at fault for most heartbreaks and that, although women are always to blame, it is a cheating man that eventually causes “many a good girl to go

wrong.” The lyrics may seem innocent today, but imagine what it did in 1952! Women everywhere could relate to what Kitty Wells was singing and that made her extremely popular. Kitty Wells served as inspiration for the country female artists that came after her. Her huge popularity in the 50’s and 60’s earned her the title of queen of country music. Over the years her popularity faded, but she became an icon of American music history. She kept performing and making special appearances even in old age. Wells died on July 2012 at age 92.

Patsy Cline

Patsy Cline is from the same time as Kitty Wells and alongside her paved the way to future country stars. Patsy was an extremely successful crossover artist, making the charts in country and pop music. To this day she is a much respected artist, her name is probably the most known among early country stars and she is often placed on the same level of respect as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. She was the first female country artist to headline her own show and be more successful than the men she toured with.
Patsy had a trademark rich voice, with which she sang gloomy songs that became her signature sound. Her songs also had a mix of 50’s rock and roll, which set her apart from most other country artists then and since. She has had many hits that keep selling to this day, which include “Walking After Midnight”, “She’s Got You” and her signature songs, the melancholic “I Fall to Pieces” and a

cover of Willie Nelson’s “Crazy”, which became one of the most popular jukebox songs.
Patsy Cline looked like she had life figured out. She had short hair and wore pants, looking more like a rock star from her time than a country one. She was definitely a strong woman, in charge of her

own life. Her looks and attitude made her be respected by the men in country music, with whom she became good friends.
There was something mystical about Patsy; she had been in two

serious accidents, and she had said that the third one would kill her. Weeks before she died, she had begun giving her clothes away to friends and asking them to take care of her children, claiming she felt she wasn’t going to live long. All of this was told by her close friends, country stars Dottie West, June Carter and Loretta Lynn (who got Patsy’s old maternity clothes since she was pregnant. Lynn named one of her twin daughters after Patsy). 

On March 5, 1963, Patsy Cline’s private plane crashed in Camden, Tennessee, as she returned from a star-studded benefit concert. She and the other people on board died instantly. Patsy was only 30.
Her legacy has lived on, and she is definitely an icon of country music.

Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn, the coal miner’s daughter, bears the title of First Lady of Country Music. If there ever was a genuine star, it is definitely Loretta. She has had countless hits over the years, won many important awards and honors, composed several songs and wrote six books. Not bad for a girl from the hills of old Kentucky!
To know more about her life all you have to do is listen to her signature song, “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, in which she tells her life story exactly the way it was. She was born in Kentucky, got married at 13, had four children before she even knew what was causing it, had two more, and then became a singer. Her husband bought her a guitar for 17 dollars simply because he liked to hear her sing, and with that guitar she wrote a song called “Honky Tonk Girl”, an original song that was inspired by her idol Kitty Well’s famous hit. That song got Loretta to sing at the prestigious Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and from there she began to have a string of chart-topping hit songs and albums that remain valuable to this day.
Her image hasn’t changed much over the years. She usually had her

hair high, and wore big, puffy prom dresses onstage. She still does it, the beady big dresses for her performances, and that, along with the way she pulls on the microphone cord, is a trademark image for her.
Her music is just like her, simple and honest with an edge of naïveté. She sang about things she was going through, what was on her mind and what she wanted to say. It just so happened that she became a sort of spokesperson for regular women who went through the same things. Her relatable songs became fast hits and Loretta, used to a life of poverty, found herself enjoying more money and fame than she thought possible. Her number one songs include “Don’t Come Home A’Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)”, “Fist City”, “You Ain’t Woman Enough” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. She focused her songwriting on issues of working class women such as cheating husbands and heartbreaks, and she pushed the boundaries of the extremely conservative country genre by singing about birth control with the song “The Pill” and the triviality of a housewife’s life with “One’s on the Way”. She didn’t really consider herself a feminist, but some of her songs did more for women’s liberation than many mainstream pop artists. Songs like “Rated X”, for instance, criticized the way divorced women were seen at the time. She also had the trademark romantic country songs, of course, and had a very successful and iconic duet partnership with Conway Twitty.
Her latest album, the critically acclaimed Van Lear Rose, was

released in 2004 and was produced by Jack White from the White Stripes. The album is a harmonious blend of Loretta’s country and White’s rock. They formed a great partnership and their chemistry was very strong despite the genre and age difference (she was 72 and he was 28), and they wrote and sang together in some songs. The album topped the country charts and was nominated for five Grammys, winning two.
In 1980, a movie adaptation of her first book, Coal Miner’s Daughter, was released with the same name, starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta and Tommy Lee Jones as her husband, Doolittle Lynn. Actress Beverly D’Angelo played Loretta’s close friend, the late

Patsy Cline, and the movie also had guest appearances from country legends Ernest Tubb and Minnie Pearl as themselves.  The biographical film was a big success and earned Spacek an Oscar.
Although extremely successful, her life has never been easy and Loretta has suffered quite a lot through the years. In 2013 alone, storms damaged her famous house in Tennessee, she had a fall which fractured her ribs, was forced to cancel her annual concerts at her house due to storm threats, and her oldest daughter passed away. But Loretta is a survivor; she is 81 and is still kicking. She performs regularly and was recently honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama for her work.

Dolly Parton

 Dolly is the queen of country music. She is a singer, composer, author, philanthropist, actress, multi-instrumentalist, and a business woman. She is one of the few people in history to have been nominated for each of the major awards in entertainment: Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony awards. Alongside Beyonce, she holds the record of a female artist with the most Grammy nominations.
Dolly was born in Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children in a very poor family living in the Smokey Mountains. Her family was very musical and Dolly began singing as a little girl, “composing” her first song about a corncob doll at age 5, and by age 9 she was performing in local radio and television shows. At thirteen she recorded her first song, “Puppy Love”, and performed at the Grand Ole Opry, where she met Johnny Cash, who encouraged her to pursue her career. The day after she graduated from high school she moved to Nashville, determined to become a star. After a period of living alone with barely any food, her career began to take off and she was well on her way to become a country music legend.
Dolly’s image changed a lot over the years. She always believed that more is more, and she is known for her flashy and overdone looks. “It costs a lot to look this cheap” is one of her iconic quotes regarding her appearance. In the 60’s and 70’s she wore tall blonde wigs and tight-fitting outfits, as well as platform shoes and heels. In

the 80’s and 90’s she became even flashier, with even bigger hair, sparkly outfits and high heels. She has had many cosmetic surgeries over the years not only to improve her looks and stay youthful, but also to match her outside self to her inner personality. The hair, the famous big breasts, the rhinestone outfits, the heels, the long nails, the false lashes, overdone makeup and the plastic surgeries have created a larger-than-life character that is as iconic as her music.
Her big break came in 1967 when Porter Wagoner invited her to join his extremely popular television show The Porter Wagoner Show. That same year Dolly released her first album, Hello, I’m Dolly. Porter and Dolly recorded many hit albums and singles together and made an iconic partnership. She also had moderate success with her solo career during this period, the most successful single being “Jolene”, one of her most famous hits ever. After 7 years on the show Dolly decided to move on, something Porter didn’t agree with. To explain how she felt she wrote the song “I Will Always Love You” for him, which became her signature song, and a huge hit over the years, topping the country charts twice and becoming one of the best-selling singles in history when it was covered by Whitney Houston in the early 90’s.
Dolly was extremely successful in the 70’s, when she crossed over from country to pop with the song “Here You Come Again” in 1977, her first million-selling song. In the 80’s she became a glamorous and sparkly pop diva, enjoying immense fame and fortune. At one point she was the third most photographed person in the world, behind the Pope and Madonna. In 1980 she starred in her first movie 9 to 5, alongside Jane Fonda and Lilly Tomlin. Dolly wrote a song for the movie with the same title, which got her four Grammy nominations (winning two) as well as an Oscar nomination. It also reached number one in both the country and pop charts. She also has had two varieties TV shows and built a theme park near her home town named Dollywood.
Her most famous songs are “Jolene”, “9 to 5”, the autobiographical “Coat of Many Colors”, her signature song “I Will Always Love You”, and her iconic duet with Kenny Rogers “Island in the Stream” which was written by the Bee Gees and to this day is one of the best-selling duets in history.
In the 90’s her popularity faded, just like any other country singer over 40 years old. She still had some moderate success, but after a few consecutive unsuccessful albums, Dolly got discouraged and thought about stopping making music, but in the end of the 90’s and beginning of 2000’s she made a glorious return to her country roots with a trilogy of bluegrass-inspired albums, starting with the Grammy-winning 1999 The Grass is Blue, followed by the iconic 2001 album Little Sparrow (its second single earned Dolly another Grammy) and ended with Halos and Horns in 2002.
She has had many successful partnerships over the years, beginning with Porter Wagoner in the 60’s. Her legendary album with Loretta

Lynn and Tammy Wynette helped all three singers revive their careers in the early 90’s and alongside Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris Dolly released two successful albums, Trio and Trio II. She has performed with many stars over the years onstage and on her TV shows, but her most iconic partnership is definitely with Kenny Rogers, which began with the recording of “Island in the Stream” and progressed to a string of songs, albums, TV specials and even a Christmas album. They recently reunited in 2013 for the song “You Can’t Make Old Friends” which got them both a Grammy nomination.
Today, Dolly is still making music. She has recently written a book and a Broadway musical, as well as starred in a few TV shows and movies such as Joyful Noise alongside Queen Latifah. She just started a new world tour and is about to release a new album this year, which include her new duet with Kenny Rogers and one with Willie Nelson. Dolly Parton is 68 and is a respected and successful country music legend.

Tammy Wynette

Tammy Wynette is one of the most popular female country artists in history. There is no way someone can talk about country music without mentioning her name. After Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline paved the way for women in country music, Tammy Wynette, alongside her close friends Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, concretized their role in the genre throughout the 60’s and the 70’s, becoming a country music icon and an inspiration to generations to come.
This Mississippi-born singer had an angelic image with her simple

long dresses and blonde hair, which she sometimes wore up in a big, country-trademark style. Over the years her image changed, especially during the 80’s when she conformed to the norm: big shoulder pads, sparkly outfits, big and flashy dresses, and short, tall hair. Tammy’s songs were mostly about man-woman relationship and marriage, dealing with both the good and the bad sides of it. Her first hit was “Your Good Girl is Gonna Go Bad”, her second single ever, and it peaked at number 3. From then on Tammy had a string of Top Ten hits throughout the 60’s and 70’s, which included “My Elusive Dreams”, “Take Me to Your World”, “Singing My Song”, “The Ways to Love a Man”, the Grammy-winning “I Don’t Wanna Play House”,  and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E”. Her signature song, the Grammy-winning “Stand by Your Man” was co-written by Tammy and became a huge crossover hit, topping the country charts and making it to the Top 20 in the pop charts. Released during the beginning of the feminist movement in the US, this song’s message was the opposite of what most female stars were singing at the time; it stated that a woman should stand by her man, and even if he cheats and disrespects his wife, she should be there waiting when he comes home because “after all, he’s just a man”.From 1969 to 1975 Tammy was married to country legend George Jones, and together they had many hit albums and singles throughout the 70’s and early 80’s, which included their iconic duets “We’re Gonna Hold On” and “Golden Ring”. Tammy Wynette and George Jones formed one of the most popular and iconic couples in country music, following the success of Johnny Cash and June Carter.
During the 90’s Tammy’s popularity fell drastically and she didn’t have much success. Regardless, she tried her hand at a new sound and made new partnerships. She recorded a duet album with many pop stars including Elton John and Sting. In 1993 she made a historic partnership with Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, and

together this amazing trio recorded the legendary album Honky Tonk Angels which included many classic country songs such as the title song featuring its original singer Kitty Wells, “Lovesick Blues” featuring Patsy Cline, the album’s only single “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” (which was promoted with a star-studded music video and became a big hit), as well as an original song by each of the three women. The album was a big success and made it to the Billboard 200 pop charts, becoming Tammy's second highest charting album.
Despite innumerous health problems, major surgeries and a serious addiction to painkillers, Tammy kept touring and performing up to a little before her death. She died of a blood clot in her lung while sleeping on her couch on April 1998, at age 55. A public memorial service was held in Nashville.

Reba McEntire

Reba McEntire is an Oklahoma-born singer, songwriter, and actress. She is one of the best-selling artists of all time, in front of artists like Willie Nelson, Faith Hill, Lionel Richie, and even Britney Spears. She is also the third most successful female country star in the Billboard country charts, behind Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn.
She was discovered in the 70’s by country artist Red Steagall while she was singing the national anthem in the National Rodeo in Oklahoma City. Steagall was impressed by her voice and wanted to help her start a career in Nashville, where she recorded some demos and soon after signed a contract with Mercury Records. Her self-titled debut album, released in 1977, got little attention and resembled the music of Tanya Tucker and Tammy Wynette. Her second album, however, had a song chart in the top 20, and from then on Reba had moderate success with her upcoming albums and singles with Mercury. Despite the success of her first six albums, Reba was unhappy with Mercury’s sound, which was country-pop, and decided to leave the label to try her hand at more traditional country records. She signed with MCA Nashville Records, where she had more artistic liberty, and in 1984 she released My Kind of Country, which was critically praised, certified gold, peaked at number 13 and had two number one singles. This album and the ones that followed certified Reba as a solid country singer, a new artist who sang traditional songs, and concretized her career in the genre.
Reba always looked like a country star, with the suits, skirts and

boots. She was always a fiery redhead, that fact never changed. The hairstyle, however, changed a lot through the years. In the beginning of her career she wore her hair short and curled up in the era’s iconic perm. In the 80’s the progressed to a wilder look, with long, voluminous orange curls that cascaded down her back. In the 90’s she abandoned the curls and adopted a more modern style with shorter wavy hair, which got spikier as the years passed and eventually became very short and mature. Today, her hair is straight and long, and she does not look her age! She is often placed on the list of hottest female country stars from different magazines, websites and TV shows.
Of course Reba eventually ventured into a more pop sound, and she became a successful crossover artist. She has had countless number one hits, and some of her best-known songs are “Does He Love You”, “How Blue”, “Rumor Has It, “Whoever Is in New England”, her signature song “Fancy” and one of her most recent hits, “I’m a Survivor”. Reba took country music to a new level with her videos and live performances. She is a very theatrical performer, having many costume changes during her live shows, as well as sets that go along the storyline of the songs. Her videos are creative super-productions, often seeming like a mini-movie that tells a story from beginning to end. In her videos she usually plays the main character and acts out the story of the song, such as in the videos for “Is There Life Out There” and “Fancy”. Her videos and live performances have created some iconic images such as the polemic red dress she wore at the 1993’s CMA performance of “Does He Love You”, and most of all the fur coat and hat from the “Fancy” video, which Reba has brought to her stage performances of that song, adding a short, sparkly red dress that she reveals after removing the coat, becoming a Reba staple.
After many pop and country hits thorough the 80’s and 90’s, Reba took a break from her singing career to focus on her acting. Her sitcom Reba ran from 2001 to 2007 and was a smash hit. She had

starred in many movies before that, and has had another TV show since, but Reba is definitely her most successful acting job.
Reba is now 58 years old and she is still working. She tours often and has worked with singer Kelly Clarkson (who is now her daughter-in-law) on records, live shows and TV specials. She released an album in 2010 called All the Women I Am which included her number one single “Turn on the Radio”. Having been inspired by Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline, Reba herself has inspired many of the women in the newer generation of country music who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, and has become a legend who is often called queen of country music.

Shania Twain

Shania Twain started making records in the early 90’s and she changed country music forever. The only one in this list to not have been born in the US, Shania was born and raised in Canada and only moved to Nashville in her early 20s. She grew up in poverty and had a rough life, having to work hard from a young age and later on raise her younger siblings after the tragic death of her parents, which meant putting her music career on hold to make ends meet.
In 1993 Shania released her self-titled debut album, which got very little attention. The sales failed to impress, but if you watch closely that album gives you an insight on what we could expect from this rising star. Her rich and distinct voice works her magic in less-than-average songs, and the videos made to promote the singles caught some attention: in the video for “What Made You Say That” Shania wears a shirt that reveals her midriff, which caused country channels to refuse to play the video, calling her “the Madonna of country music”. They were in for a treat for the next few years, weren’t they?
The album did catch the attention of producer Mutt Lange, who had previously worked with rock musicians such as AC/DC. He was impressed by Shania’s voice and showed interest in working with her. The couple became fast friends and started composing songs together, which led to them falling in love and getting married soon after. Shania’s label didn’t like the idea of her working with a rock producer, but when she played them one of the songs they had been working on (which was to become “Any Man of Mine”) they decided to give the couple a chance. Mutt produced Shania’s second album, The Woman in Me, which was released in 1995 and, unlike her first album, was a unique piece of work in which Shania either wrote or co-wrote every song and had artistic liberty to explore new sounds. This record brought Shania fame and fortune, and she became a solid country star. The album that followed, Come On Over in 1997, went on to become the best-selling album by a female act of all time in any genre and the best-selling country album of all time. Shania broke records, set new standards, and became not only an icon of country music, but a staple of the 90s. Her latest album, Up!, was released in 2002, followed by her

second world tour, which only concretized Shania’s status as a superstar.
Working with a rock producer caused Shania’s sound to stand out amongst other country stars; there was a mix of traditional country with some pop and rock, making her an extremely successful crossover artist and taking country music to a whole new level. She changed the way people viewed country and for the first time opened its door to pop and rock listeners, making it into a mainstream genre to audiences in the whole world. Her biggest hits are “Any Man of Mine”, “From This Moment On”, “That Don’t Impress Me Much”, the Grammy award winners “You’re Still the One”, “Come On Over” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” (which is also her signature song).
Her image also set her apart from other country stars. She displayed her figure in a sexy and classy form over and over in her music videos. Showing her midriff, which began in her first video, became common in her videos, as well as figure-hugging outfits. She had a sexy and wild side which she showed in the video for “That Don’t Impress Me Much” wearing the now classic leopard-print outfit and in “I’m Gonna Getcha Good” where she wore a lacy see-through body suit. But she also had a classy side, wearing elegant gowns such as in “From This Moment On” and “The Woman in Me”. And let’s not forget to mention her strip-tease in “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”. She constantly pushed the boundaries of country music and made history with her videos. Today, her image hasn’t changed much. She has aged well, and at 48 she still wears outfits that resembled her earlier ones, as well as her long, full, wavy luscious hair.
After changing country music forever, opening doors for stars to come, and allowing women to have more liberty in this conservative genre, Shania took a hiatus in the middle of the 2000’s to focus on her husband and son. She hasn’t released an album with new songs in over a decade, although rumors about it come out every year. After a heartbreaking divorce, Shania starred in her own reality series on OWN called Why Not? which documented her heartbreak, her problems with her voice, her marriage to her new husband, her return to music and to the stage. After that, she signed with Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for a two

year residency, where she has been performing since 2012 with positive reviews and remarkable commercial success.
Shania has claimed to having been inspired by the country ladies that came before her; in the movie about her life, a young Shania is shown playing and singing a Kitty Well’s song; she has said on her Vegas show that she considers Loretta Lynn to be an amazing songwriter; she has mentioned Reba McEntire in her autobiography From This Moment On; and she had stated many times over the years that Dolly Parton is her biggest inspiration, and the two have become friends and performed together. Today, many young country stars have named Shania as their inspiration and she has become the voice of a generation.