Biography

During her heyday of the late '60s and '70s, Tammy Wynette was called "The First Lady of Country Music," an honorarium that spoke to both her elegance and popularity. Wynette dominated the country charts starting in 1967, when "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" rocketed into the country Top Ten, quickly followed by the number one David Houston duet "My Elusive Dreams," and ending in the '70s, when the Top Tens slowly faded away. Over the course of that decade, she recorded hit after hit with Billy Sherrill, a producer who cannily steered her toward writing and singing material that played upon country tradition while addressing modern issues. "I Don't Wanna Play House" and "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" were heartbreak songs that tapped into the shifting society of the late '60s, a situation her signature song "Stand by Your Man" also tacitly addressed by reasserting old-fashioned values in a time of change. At the height of her stardom, Wynette entered into a star-crossed romance with George Jones, a relationship that turned professional with the release of the 1971 single "Take Me." Wynette's and Jones' union was turbulent and their work as a duo often referred to their troubles; even after the pair divorced in 1975, they continued to reunite, singing songs that acknowledged their potent chemistry. Wynette's career slowed in the '80s due to a combination of health problems and changing fashions, but prior to her premature death at the age of 55 in 1998, she scored one last surprise hit as the vocalist for the KLF on the electronic duo's 1991 international blockbuster "Justified & Ancient." After her father, who was a musician, died when she was just eight months old, Wynette was raised at her grandparents' home in Mississippi; her mother moved to Birmingham, Alabama to do military work. As a child, Wynette taught herself to play a variety of instruments left behind by her father. When she was a teenager, she moved to Birmingham to be with her mother. At 17, she married her first husband, Euple Byrd, and set to work as a hairdresser and beautician. The marriage was short-lived, but it produced three children within three years. By the time her third child was born, the couple were divorced. Wynette's third child had spinal meningitis, which meant she had expensive medical bills to pay. In order to earn some extra money, she began performing in clubs at night. In 1965, she landed a regular spot on the television program The Country Boy Eddie Show, which led to appearances on Porter Wagoner's syndicated show. The following year, she moved to Nashville, where she auditioned for several labels before producer Billy Sherrill signed her to Epic Records. "Apartment #9," Wynette's first single, was released late in 1966 and almost broke the country Top 40 early in 1967. It was followed by "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad," which became a big hit, peaking at number three. The song launched a string of Top Ten hits that ran until the end of the '70s, interrupted by three singles that didn't crack the Top Ten. After "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" was a success, "My Elusive Dreams" became her first number one in the summer of 1967, followed by "I Don't Wanna Play House" later that year. In 1968 and 1969, Wynette had five number one hits -- "Take Me to Your World," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," "Stand by Your Man" (all 1968), "Singing My Song," and "The Ways to Love a Man" (both 1969). In 1968, she started a relationship with George Jones which would prove to be extremely stormy. Beginning in 1971, Wynette and Jones recorded a series of duets -- the first was the Top Ten "Take Me" -- which were as popular as their solo hits. However, the marriage was difficult and the couple divorced in 1975; they continued to record sporadically over the next two decades. Throughout the '70s, Wynette racked up number one hits. In the early '80s, her career began to slow down. Although she still had hit singles, she didn't reach the Top Ten as easily as she had in the previous decade. That trend continued throughout the rest of the decade and into the '90s. Even though she didn't have as many hits as she'd had in the past, Wynette remained a respected star and a popular concert attraction. In the '80s, she began suffering a variety of health problems, including inflammation of her bile duct. She was hospitalized several times during the mid-'90s before her death on April 6, 1998. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi