Biography

American pop singer Linda Scott received her first big break when she won an audition to become a regular on Arthur Godfrey's hit CBS radio show in 1959. Born Linda Joy Sampson in Queens, New York, the young New Jersey-based singer soon signed with Epic Records and made her recording debut with the single "In-Between Teen" while still a high-school teenager herself. A different deal, this time with upstart label Canadian-American Records, followed and soon the 16-year-old struck gold with the Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern standard "I've Told Every Little Star," which she released under the stage name Linda Scott. The record, which Scott produced, sold a million copies in 1961, landing her a gold album. That same year, she charted two more hits with "I Don't Know Why" and "Don't Bet Money, Honey," which, along with "I've Told Every Little Star" would end up being her most successful songs. Working with both Canadian-American and their new subsidiary Congress Records, Scott continued to record, appearing in the Chubby Checker film Don't Knock the Twist with the song "Yesiree." She would only chart one more time in her brief career with the Hal David and Burt Bacharach song "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed" in 1964. By 1965, Scott was co-hosting the rock television show Where the Action Is with Steve Alaimo and would only issue a handful of additional tracks, ending with the 1967 RCA single "They Don't Know You." She stayed in the music business for a few more years working mostly as a backing vocalist before retiring in the early '70s to pursue studies in theology. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi