Kitty Wells

There's a very good reason Kitty Wells was dubbed the Queen of Country Music: she was the pioneer of the country music female superstar.

She was born Ellen Muriel Deason in August of 1919 in Nashville, Tennessee, one of the few country singers native to Music City, USA. She began singing at an early age and by the time she was a teenager she was singing with her sisters performing under the name "The Deason Sisters." In 1937, she married Johnnie Wright who went on to his own success as half of the duo Johnnie & Jack.

Soon after her marriage to Wright, she began touring with him as part of his Harmony Girls. By the late 1940s and early 1950s she had adopted the stage name of "Kitty Wells" and began recording gospel and country songs with RCA Victor. Although these early efforts got the attention of producers and promoters, women were not considered a "good investment" for promotions at that time so Wells was dropped from RCA Victor in 1950.

During those years she became a mother of three children - Ruby, Carol Sue, and Bobby - and frustrated with her career and thoughts of raising her family, Kitty was ready to leave the performing world behind. But Johnnie Wright had different ideas for his talented wife. He convinced Paul Cohen of Decca Records to sign her and, in 1952, they recorded the #1 smash hit that put Wells on the map -- "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." "Angels" was a kind-of answer song to Hank Thompson's hit song "The Wild Side of Life" that put the "blame" on unfaithful women for causing heartache. In the song, Thompson sings "I didn't know God made honky tonk angels" to which Wells melodically responded, "it wasn't...". Both songs were hits, but it was Wells' song that truly made the bigger impact in country music, if not music all together. Thanks to that song, which Kitty reluctantly recorded, the 1960's saw explosion of female country music stars such as Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn. Kitty Wells had blazed a path that no one before her had really been able to travel.

Over the next two decades, Kitty Wells went on to record even more hits like "Making Believe", "Release Me", "Heartbreak USA", and "I Gave My Wedding Dress Away". She had a sincere and straight-forward singing style that kept her on the charts for many years with her last major hit released in 1971. During her career she charted 84 singles with over 30 top 10 hits, she was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1976 (the second female country singer to be elected), and was presented with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award -- a first for female country stars and only the third country artist to receive the honor after Roy Acuff and Hank Williams. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Kitty continued to tour both with and without her husband Johnnie. She and Wright took their last bow in 2000 in their hometown of Nashville, TN. Wright passed away in September 2011 at the age of 97; he and Kitty were married for more than 70 years. They were lifelong members of the Church of Christ and their faith was a vital part of their lives and their music.

Sadly, on July 16, 2012, The Queen of Country Music died at the age of 92 due to complications from a stroke. She will be missed, but not long forgotten. The Queen will continue to reign on in country music thanks to her love of music and the fans who loved her. God may not have made honky tonk angels, but we're sure glad he made Kitty Wells.