Country Music Legend Kitty Wells Dies
July 17, 2012
Kitty Wells died on July 16 at the age of 92, celebrated as the one of most important female singers in country music history. In the early 1950′s, Kitty Wells single-handedly showed that women could be commercial stars in a field overwhelmingly dominated by men. She thus opened the door for generations of female country stars, from Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton to Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks.
In 1952, Wells recorded “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” a strong statement defending women in the battle of the sexes that provided so much grist for the country music of the day. The song rocketed to number one on the country music charts and established that women could sell records in country music. Her breakthrough recording stayed number one for six weeks, though it created much controversy. Because of its strong feminist message, the Grand Ole Opry initially banned the song, and she was not allowed to perform it on radio. Country fans, however, loved it. Her duet “One by One” (1954) with Red Foley also reached number one on the country charts, the first number-one country song recorded by a female artist.
The Tennessee quarter features a tribute to the state’s musical heritage. The guitar stands for the country music of Nashville and central Tennessee. (U.S. Mint)
Wells was born on Aug. 30, 1919, in Nashville, Tennessee, and was christened Ellen Muriel Deason. She began performing with her sisters Mae and Jewell and her cousin Bessie Choate in 1935. In 1937, she married country music star Johnnie Wright. He gave her the stage name Kitty Wells, which was the name of a character in an old folk ballad. Wells recorded 23 singles that made Billboard magazine’s country Top 10 list between 1952 and 1965. Wells’s hits included “Hey Joe,” “Making Believe,” and “Cheatin’s a Sin” (all 1953); “Release Me” and “Thou Shalt Not Steal” (both 1954); “Searching” (1956); and “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” (1957). In 1956, Wells became the first female country singer to release a full album instead of singles. Soon after, other female country singers were releasing albums.
Wells was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1976, the second female so honored, after Patsy Cline. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences also presented her with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991, the first to be given to a female artist in country music.
Wells performed with her husband until the end of 2000, when she retired at the age of 81. Wright died in 2011 at age 97.
