Country music singer, born in Winchester, Virginia, USA. She played the piano and began singing country music while a teenager She adopted the last name of her first husband and retained it after divorcing him. In 1957 she won the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts contest and went on to record such hits as I Fall to Pieces (1960) and Crazy (1961). One of the first country performers to achieve success on both the popular and country music charts, her music used innovative vocals and arrangements. She died in a plane crash.
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| Patsy Cline | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Virginia Patterson Hensley | |
| Born | September 8, 1932 | |
| Origin | Winchester, Virginia | |
| Died | March 5, 1963 | |
| Genre(s) | Country music/Pop music | |
| Occupation(s) | country singer/ pop singer | |
| Years active | 1957-1963 | |
| Label(s) | Four Star Records (1955-1960), Decca Records (1960-1963) | |
| Members | ||
| Country Music Hall of Fame (1973), Hollywood Walk of Fame (1999) | ||
| Former members | ||
| Grand Ole Opry (1960-1963) | ||
Patsy Cline (September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was a country music singer, who enjoyed pop music cross-over success during the era of the Nashville Sound in the early 1960s.
Her mother, Hilda, a gifted seamstress who practiced her craft until her own death in 1998, made Cline's famous western stage outfits. During this period in her early 20's, Cline met two men who would be responsible for her name changes: she married contractor Gerald Cline (whom she later divorced) in 1953, and she was given the name "Patsy" by her new manager, Bill Peer.
In 1955, Cline was signed to Four Star Records, but her contract greatly limited her material, stating that she could record only compositions written by Four Star writers.
Rise to Fame
The year 1957 was a year of great change in Cline's life.
When her Four Star contract expired in 1960, Cline signed with Decca Records-Nashville, under the direction of legendary producer Owen Bradley.
When Patsy Cline made her first recordings in 1955, Kitty Wells, known as "The Queen of Country Music", was the undisputed top female vocalist in the country music field.
Cline's first Decca release, in 1961, was the Country/Pop ballad "I Fall to Pieces."
Near-Fatal Car Accident
The year 1961 brought the birth of Cline's son Randy.
Height of Her Career
Owing to her determination, outspoken nature, strong will, and a self-confidence that was a somewhat rare trait for women in Country Music at that time, Cline was the first female in the industry to prove that she could surpass her male competitors in terms of record sales and concert tickets.
After the success of "I Fall to Pieces", Cline needed a follow-up, particularly because her near-fatal car accident had required that she spend a month in the hospital, which meant lost time from touring and promotions.
Most albums of unreleased material followed posthumously, starting with "The Patsy Cline Story" in the summer of 1963.
During her short career of only five and a half years, Patsy Cline was awarded 12 prestigious awards for her achievements in music and three more following her death.
Tragic Death
In the months leading up to her death, Cline confided in her closest friends, June Carter and Dottie West, that she felt a sense of impending doom and suspected that she wasn't going to live much longer. (March, 1963 would prove to be the grimmest month in Opry history, ending with the death of former Opry star Texas Ruby, one of Cline's early influences, in a fire on March 29, bringing the total of Opry star deaths in one month to five.)
Three songs became hits after Cline's death: "Sweet Dreams", "Leavin' On Your Mind" and "Faded Love".
While Cline's life may have ended, her fan following did not.
Legacy: 1963-1985
As the 1960s and early 70s moved on, MCA (new owner of Cline’s former label, "Decca") continued to issue Patsy Cline albums, so that Cline has had several posthumous hits.
In 1973, Cline was elected to The Country Music Hall of Fame along with guitarist/RCA producer Chet Atkins, making her the first female solo artist in Country Music history to receive that honor. Documentaries
In 1985, HBO/Tri Star Pictures produced Sweet Dreams: The Life and Times of Patsy Cline, starring actress Jessica Lange, lip- synching as Cline, actor Ed Harris as Cline’s husband, Charlie Dick, and actress Ann Wedgeworth as Hilda Hensley, Cline's mother. The film depicted Cline's marriage to Dick as abusive, falsely portraying Cline as a victim of domestic violence.
Also in 1992, MCA released a 4 CD/Cassette Collection of the discography, called “The Patsy Cline Collection”.
Cline was portrayed on film again in the 1995 CBS bio pic “Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story”, featuring Michele Lee as Dottie West and actress Tere Myers as Cline.
Cline's hit song "I Fall to Pieces" was listed at #107 on RIAA's list of Songs of the Century in 2001.
Grammy Award winning country singer, LeAnn Rimes, has often been touted to be the heir to Cline's legacy because her remarkably rich, powerful vocals are quite similar to that of Cline's.
Efforts to erect a Patsy Cline museum in Winchester, VA, are still in the works. The feud attracted national media attention and the outspoken disappointment of Cline's fans, who had hoped to see the items donated to a museum, as Cline's mother had intended.
Cline's career and musical influence have been cited as inspirations by countless vocalists, including Tammy Wynette, Cyndi Lauper, Marianne Faithful, Patti Smith, Dottie West, Barbara Mandrell, Michelle Branch, Amy Grant, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood and LeAnn Rimes.
Family today
In December, 1998, Cline’s mother, Hilda Hensley, died in Winchester, Virginia of natural causes (Cline's father had died years earlier in the 1950's).
Because Cline and her mother were so close in age, Cline often commented that her mother was also her best friend and the one person in life she could truly count on. Daughter Julie joins him in representing Cline’s estate at public functions and has four children of her own (one, Virginia, named for Cline, was killed in an automobile accident in 1994) and one grandchild, making Patsy Cline a great-grandmother. Ryan's sound is so close to Cline's that many fans search Cline's discography trying to find these two songs but soon discover that these tracks were recorded solely for the film and weren't included on the soundtrack. If they’re going to do it right they’ll have to do it the Patsy Cline way because she couldn’t be beat!” - Carl Perkins, legendary country/rockabilly singer
“All Patsy Cline had to do was sing somebody else’s song and her version would outsell theirs because it would be so good!” - George Jones, legendary Country Music icon
“I never met her and that is certainly my loss. She truly has been my inspiration.” - Tammy Wynette, legendary Country Music icon
“Patsy Cline? She taught me emotion: raw, sincere, unashamed.” - Reba McEntire, Country Music superstar
“She probably had the best pipes ever.” - Toby Keith, Country Music superstar
“There’s never going to be another Patsy Cline. Without her, I don’t think I would have lasted” - Loretta Lynn, legendary Country Music icon
“The great Patsy Cline…she made Country Music hip and cool.” - Marianne Faithful, legendary British rocker
“She’s one of those talents that only comes once in our lifetimes” - Roy Clark, legendary Country Music icon
“Oh my God. Just let me sing and do my thing!’” - Dolly Parton, legendary Country Music icon
“I think Patsy Cline made Country Music classy.” - Melissa Etheridge, legendary Rock/Pop singer
“I guess you could say that I’m the luckiest girl because I got to meet my true hero. She was a precious person.” - Dottie West, legendary Country Music singer
Discography
Selected Singles
| Year | Single | U.S. CO. | U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. A.C. | Album | |
| 1955 | "A Church, a Courtroom & Then Goodbye" | - | - | - | - | |
| 1957 | "Walkin' After Midnight" | 3 | 12 | - | Patsy Cline | |
| 1957 | "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" | 14 | - | - | Patsy Cline | |
| 1960 | "Lovesick Blues" | - | - | - | - | |
| 1961 | "I Fall to Pieces" | #1 | 12 | 6 | Showcase With the Jordanaires | |
| 1961 | "Crazy" | 2 | 9 | 2 | Showcase With the Jordanaires | |
| 1961 | "Who Can I Count On?" | - | 99 | - | The Patsy Cline Collection | |
| 1962 | "She's Got You" | #1 | 14 | 3 | Sentimentally Yours | |
| 1962 | "So Wrong" | 14 | 85 | - | 12 Greatest Hits | |
| 1962 | "Heartaches" | - | 73 | - | Sentimentally Yours | |
| 1962 | "Strange" | - | 97 | - | Sentimentally Yours | |
| 1962 | "Imagine That" | 21 | 90 | - | The Patsy Cline Collection | |
| 1962 | "When I Get Thru' With You" | 10 | 53 | - | 20th Century Masters | |
| 1962 | "Why Can't He Be You?" | - | 103 | - | 12 Greatest Hits | |
| 1962 | "You're Stronger Than Me" | - | 107 | - | 12 Greatest Hits | |
| 1963 | "Leavin' On Your Mind" | 8 | 83 | - | The Patsy Cline Story | |
| 1963 | "Sweet Dreams" | 5 | 44 | 15 | The Patsy Cline Story | |
| 1963 | "Faded Love" | 7 | 96 | - | The Patsy Cline Story | |
| 1980 | "Always" | 18 | - | - | Always | |
| 1981 | "I Fall to Pieces" (with Jim Reeves) | 61 | - | - | Always | |
| 1982 | "Have Your Ever Been Lonely" (with Jim Reeves) | 5 | - | - | Always | |
| 1999 | "There He Goes" | 70 | - | - | The Ultimate Collection |
Selected Albums
| Year | Cover | Album | |
| 1957 | Patsy Cline | ||
| 1961 | Showcase With the Jordanaires | ||
| 1962 | Sentimentally Yours | ||
| 1963 | The Patsy Cline Story | ||
| 1964 | A Portait | ||
| 1965 | That's How a Heartache Begins | ||
| 1967 | 12 Greatest Hits | ||
| 1980 | - | Always | |
| 1998 | The Ultimate Collection | ||
| 2001 | - | Remembering Patsy |
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