1. Wanda LaVonne Jackson was born on October 20,1937 and is an American retired singer and songwriter.
109 Facts About Wanda Jackson
1. 2.
Wanda Jackson was among the first women to have a career in rock and roll, recording a series of 1950s singles that helped give her the nickname "The Queen of Rockabilly".
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Wanda Jackson is counted among the first female stars in the genre of country music.
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Wanda Jackson was then discovered by country singer Hank Thompson, who helped her secure a recording contract with Decca Records in 1954.
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At Decca, Wanda Jackson had her first hit single with the country song "You Can't Have My Love".
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Wanda Jackson then began touring the following year with Elvis Presley.
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In 1956, Wanda Jackson signed with Capitol Records where she was given full permission to record both country and Rockabilly.
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Wanda Jackson left Capitol Records in 1973 and signed with Word Records to focus more on the gospel circuit.
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In 1984, Wanda Jackson was sought out by European promoters to tour overseas.
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Wanda Jackson released her 32nd and final studio project, Encore, in 2021.
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Wanda Jackson was the only child born to parents Tom and Nellie Wanda Jackson in Maud, Oklahoma.
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Wanda Jackson's father worked multiple jobs, including a gas station attendant and delivery truck driver.
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Wanda Jackson played music in a local band alongside his brother.
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Nellie Wanda Jackson often had Wanda Jackson sing while she was out of sight, to ensure her daughter was accounted for.
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In Los Angeles, Wanda Jackson was introduced to western swing music.
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Wanda Jackson enjoyed hearing music by popular western acts like Bob Wills and Rose Maddox.
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Wanda Jackson took guitar lessons and was skillful enough to play it alongside her father.
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Wanda Jackson took piano lessons and continued to play the guitar.
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Wanda Jackson recalled the experience in her book: "All I wanted to do was sing and play music, and it was impossible for me to sit still," she recounted in her autobiography.
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When Wanda Jackson was nine, the family moved back to their home state, this time living in Oklahoma City.
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Wanda Jackson's father found employment as a taxi cab driver and her mother worked on an air force base.
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In Oklahoma City, Wanda Jackson sang in the local Baptist church and engaged in more performance opportunities.
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Wanda Jackson auditioned for the local radio station, KLPR, after being peer-pressured by friends.
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Wanda Jackson was featured on program, which impressed the station's disc jockey, who encouraged her to audition for a second KLPR contest.
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Wanda Jackson won the second contest at KLPR, which allotted Wanda Jackson her own 15-minute radio segment.
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Wanda Jackson dated fellow student, Leonard Sipes, who would later go by the name Tommy Collins.
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In 1952, Wanda Jackson was heard on the air by country singer and local resident, Hank Thompson.
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The singer invited Wanda Jackson to perform with him at the Trianon Ballroom in Oklahoma City.
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On Thompson's show, Wanda Jackson sang "Blue Yodel No 6" backed by his band the Brazos Valley Boys.
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Wanda Jackson was always performing, and at times neglected her social life.
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Wanda Jackson was supposed to be signed by Thompson's label, Capitol Records, but was rejected by producer Ken Nelson.
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In 1954, while still high school, Wanda Jackson signed with the label.
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In March 1954, the Wanda Jackson family traveled to Hollywood, California where she recorded her first Decca sessions backed by Thompson's band.
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Wanda Jackson cut several solo sides, along with the Billy Gray duet, "You Can't Have My Love".
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Wanda Jackson disliked the song, but Thompson convinced her to record it.
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Wanda Jackson was part of the school band and acted in the musical Anything Goes.
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Wanda Jackson did her first performance at the Grand Ole Opry while in town.
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Wanda Jackson later recalled hearing fellow Opry members making negative comments about her while she was onstage.
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In 1955, Wanda Jackson graduated from Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City and began touring.
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Wanda Jackson's father quit his job to become her full-time manager and he hired Bob Neal to book her engagements.
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Wanda Jackson's father chaperoned her during the shows and drove her from one date to the next.
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Wanda Jackson joined the cast of the Ozark Jubilee in 1955.
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At her first Capitol recording session, Wanda Jackson cut two country songs and one rock and roll selection.
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Wanda Jackson continued recording rock and roll music under her Capitol contract and was given full permission to do so by producer Ken Nelson.
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Wanda Jackson continued recording country music as well, often putting each style on either side of a single release.
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Bruce Eder added that Wanda Jackson's material was at times "astonishingly raucous and even raunchy".
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In 1957, Wanda Jackson began working under a new booking agent, who arranged several tours in 1957 and 1958.
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Also in 1958, Wanda Jackson saw success overseas with the rock and roll single, "Fujiyama Mama".
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Wanda Jackson played venues in major cities including Tokyo and Okinawa.
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Wanda Jackson recalled touring alongside Downing, who was sometimes denied entrance into venues because of his race.
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In 1960, Wanda Jackson's album cover of "Let's Have a Party" was discovered by an Iowa disc jockey, which led to an increased interest in it by radio listeners.
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The success of "Let's Have a Party" led to Jackson to rename her band "The Party Timers" and prompted her label to release the compilation, Rockin' with Wanda.
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In 1961, Wanda Jackson returned with the self-penned track "Right or Wrong".
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Wanda Jackson initially intended to pitch the song to Brenda Lee, but Nelson believed Jackson could have success with her own version.
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Wanda Jackson's next single release, "In the Middle of a Heartache", was a commercial success.
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Wonderful Wanda Jackson received a positive review from critics, including Billboard magazine, which described her vocal performance as being "in fine form".
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In 1965, Wanda Jackson partnered with Capitol's German record distributor named Electrola Records.
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In Germany and Austria, Wanda Jackson had several more charting songs, including the top ten "Doch dann kam Johnny".
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In 1966, Wanda Jackson had her first American commercial success in several years with the top 20 single "The Box It Came In".
60.
In reviewing a 2006 country compilation album, AllMusic's Thom Jurek found Wanda Jackson to be "a solid, original country singer".
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Richey and Wanda Jackson's recordings led to her next major hit called "A Woman Lives for Love".
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In 1971, Wanda Jackson was assigned Larry Butler to produce her next studio album titled I've Gotta Sing.
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The shift in her personal life prompted Wanda Jackson to concentrate more on Gospel music.
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Wanda Jackson's husband started removing her concerts from the country music night club circuit.
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Wanda Jackson began giving her testimony on stage, and played various tent show revivals.
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The LP featured vocal harmonies from The Oak Ridge Boys and included Wanda Jackson's first self-penned track.
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Wanda Jackson's signing with Word allowed her to record with their imprint label Myrrh Records.
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Wanda Jackson later claimed that Word lost interest in her country recordings after being bought out by Dot Records.
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Wanda Jackson then traveled to Scandinavia to record her first album of rock material in two decades.
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Wanda Jackson frequently toured Europe during this period and sang her 1950s rockabilly records.
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Wanda Jackson recalled having to re-learn the lyrics to songs like "Mean Mean Man" after getting hundreds of requests.
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Wanda Jackson continued releasing gospel material, such as Show Me the Way to Calvary on the Christian World label and Teach Me to Love on Vine Records.
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Wanda Jackson issued new collections of country recordings, such as Classy Country on Amethyst Records.
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In 2001, Wanda Jackson played at the Rockabilly Festival in Wanda Jackson, Tennessee alongside The Cadillac Angels.
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Wanda Jackson recalled in her autobiography that the project was originally intended to be a bluegrass collection.
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Wanda Jackson continued a busy touring schedule in the late 2000's.
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Wanda Jackson collaborated with Jerry Lee Lewis and Linda Gail Lewis for performances at the London Forum during this time.
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Wanda Jackson did not think she would "see eye to eye" with White, who was used to recording "contemporary rock-style music".
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Wanda Jackson eventually became more trusting after getting to know him better.
80.
Wanda Jackson agreed and cut the tracks, along with several others for the project.
81.
Wanda Jackson recalled taking the stage for the first time in decades at the Grand Ole Opry.
82.
Wanda Jackson did not think she could record an album better than her 2011 release.
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Wanda Jackson was encouraged to return to the studio and collaborate with singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle.
84.
Wanda Jackson blamed a long concert schedule for her vocal quality.
85.
In 2017, Wanda Jackson's autobiography titled Every Night is Saturday Night: A Country Girl's Journey to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was published.
86.
Wanda Jackson played a handful of 2018 shows before announcing her retirement in March 2019.
87.
Wanda Jackson told Rolling Stone that a previously undisclosed stroke was partially to blame, along with additional "health and safety concerns".
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Wanda Jackson announced that the project would be her last album.
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Unlike other female country performers, Wanda Jackson chose to dress in gold lame outfits and sequined dresses, most of which were designed by her mother.
90.
The way Wanda Jackson moved on stage has been seen as uncharacteristic of other female performers.
91.
Wanda Jackson has been referred to as "The Queen of Rockabilly" due to her being one of the early female performers in the rock genre.
92.
Wanda Jackson has been considered among the first women to have a life-long career in country music.
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Wanda Jackson's career has influenced a series of performers in both the country and rock fields.
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Wanda Jackson included Jackson on her 1990 studio album titled Tell Me Why.
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Wanda Jackson literally helped to pave the way for me to do what I love each and every day.
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Wanda Jackson's recording of "Let's Have a Party" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2024.
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Wanda Jackson's work got more recognition several decades later when she received the Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Wanda Jackson became the first female country and rock performer to receive the accolade.
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In 2009, Wanda Jackson was officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the category "Early Influence".
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Wanda Jackson was presented with the induction by singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash.
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Wanda Jackson was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame.
102.
In 2006 Alfred Publishing acknowledged her influence on young musicians by publishing The Best of Wanda Jackson: Let's Have a Party, a songbook with music and lyrics to thirteen songs associated with Jackson.
103.
In 2008, the Smithsonian Channel released a documentary focused on Wanda Jackson's career titled The Sweet Lady with the Nasty Voice.
104.
Wanda Jackson asked her to make the relationship official by giving Jackson a small diamond ring that she wore on a necklace.
105.
Norma Jean began dating local resident, Wendell Goodman, and Wanda Jackson sometimes joined them on dates.
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Wanda Jackson later oversaw and managed his wife's company named Wanda Jackson Enterprises.
107.
Wanda Jackson saved our marriage, too, as Wendell and I came together in pursuit of spiritual morality.
108.
Wanda Jackson's husband set up an office building in the city where that offered resources to various ministries in the local area.
109.
Wanda Jackson said it would have impaired her more if her daughter had brought her to the hospital later.