37 Facts About Kitty Wells

Ellen Muriel Deason, known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer.

Kitty Wells broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", which made her the first female country singer to top the US country charts and turned her into the first female country superstar.

Kitty Wells's chart-topping hits continued until the mid-1960s, paving the way for and inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.

In 1991, Kitty Wells became the third country music artist, after Roy Acuff and Hank Williams, and the eighth woman to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Kitty Wells was born Ellen Muriel Deason on August 30,1919 as one of six children of Charles Cary Deason and his wife, Myrtle, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Kitty Wells's father and his brother were musicians, and her mother, Myrtle, was a gospel singer.

At the age of 18 Kitty Wells married Johnnie Wright, a cabinetmaker who aspired to country music stardom.

Kitty Wells sang with Wright and his sister Louise Wright; the three toured as Johnnie Right and the Harmony Girls.

Kitty Wells did not sing on their records until signing with RCA Victor in 1949, releasing some of her first singles, including "Death At The Bar" and "Don't Wait For The Last Minute To Pray", neither of which charted.

Kitty Wells was disenchanted with her career prospects and was considering retirement, but agreed to the session because of the $125 union scale recording payment.

Thanks to her breakthrough, Kitty Wells received a membership to the Grand Ole Opry, which had originally banned the single.

Between 1953 and 1955, Kitty Wells was popular on the country charts, and was the only female solo artist at the time to be able to maintain her success.

In 1953, Kitty Wells had two top-10 hits with "Hey Joe" and "Cheatin's a Sin".

The next year, Kitty Wells partnered with country star Red Foley for the duet "One By One", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Country Chart, and became her second chart-topper.

Record companies were reluctant to issue albums by country's female artists until Kitty Wells proved that women could sell.

Kitty Wells became the first female country singer to issue an LP, starting with 1956's Kitty Wells' Country Hit Parade, which consisted of her biggest hits.

Kitty Wells released her first studio album in 1957 with Winner of Your Heart.

Kitty Wells partnered with Webb Pierce the same year for two duet singles, including the top-10 hit "Oh So Many Years".

In 1959, Kitty Wells had two top-five hits with "Amigo's Guitar" and "Mommy For A Day".

Kitty Wells was later awarded a BMI award for writing "Amigo's Guitar".

Kitty Wells continued to put much of herself into her songs throughout her career, inspiring other female country singers to record risky material, as well.

Kitty Wells entered the 1960s on top with the songs "Heartbreak USA" and "Day into Night".

In 1965, Kitty Wells had her last top-10 hit with "Meanwhile, Down At Joe's", and in 1966, Kitty Wells then had her final top-20 hit with "It's All Over But the Crying", which peaked at number 14 on the country charts.

Kitty Wells continued with a string of top-40 hits nearly until the end of the decade with her last top-40 single, "My Big Truck Drivin' Man", in 1968.

In 1968, Kitty Wells recorded a duet album with husband Johnnie Wright called We'll Stick Together.

Kitty Wells reunited with Red Foley at the end of the decade for a studio album.

Kitty Wells's albums continued to chart the Top Country Albums chart until 1969 with Guilty Street.

Kitty Wells released three studio albums in 1970 and two in 1971.

In 1973, when Decca became MCA Records, Kitty Wells stayed with them for a short time before leaving the label.

In 1976, Kitty Wells was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Kitty Wells remained a successful concert attraction at smaller venues throughout the country and Canada as late as the early 2000s.

Kitty Wells' 1955 recording "Making Believe" was included in the soundtrack of the film Mississippi Burning.

In 1991, Kitty Wells was awarded from the Grammy Awards a Lifetime Achievement award.

In 1993, Kitty Wells appeared on Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette's collaboration Honky Tonk Angels, joining in on their recording of the title track.

Kitty Wells was widowed 33 days before their 74th wedding anniversary when Johnnie died in 2011, aged 97.

Kitty Wells died on July 16,2012, in Madison, Tennessee, from complications of a stroke.

Kitty Wells is buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville, alongside her husband.