Barbara Mandrell
Encyclopedia
Barbara Ann Mandrell is an American country music
singer best known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows that helped her become one of country's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
She was the first performer and is currently one of the only females in country music history to win the Country Music Association
's "Entertainer of the Year" award twice (the other being Taylor Swift
), and she has also won the Country Music Association
's "Female Vocalist of the Year" twice.
Mandrell's first No. 1 hit was 1978's "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed
", immediately followed by "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right
" in early 1979. In 1980, "Years
" also reached No. 1. She added one more chart topper in each of the next three years. "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool
" (her signature song
), then "'Till You're Gone
" and "One of a Kind, Pair of Fools
"— all hit number one between 1981 and 1983, a period during which Mandrell also received numerous industry awards and accolades.
on Christmas Day of 1948, Barbara Mandrell was already reading music and playing accordion at age five. Six years later, she was so adept at playing steel guitar
that her father brought her to a music trade convention in Chicago, where her talents caught the attention of Chet Atkins
and Joe Maphis
. Soon after, she became a featured performer in Maphis' Las Vegas
nightclub show, followed by tours with Red Foley
, Tex Ritter
and Johnny Cash
. Her network TV debut came on the NBC-TV series Five Star Jubilee
in 1961.
While growing up, she was taught the pedal steel and lap steel guitars and many other instruments, including the accordion
, saxophone
and banjo
. She played steel guitar for the legendary Patsy Cline
. Cline once wrote to a friend in a letter that Mandrell was, "a 13 year old blonde doll that plays the steel guitar out of this world! What a show woman!" Mandrell toured as a 13-year-old with Cline, Johnny Cash, and George Jones
. She also played guitar for Joe Maphis in Las Vegas and on the Town Hall Party
show in Los Angeles. A couple of years later, Barbara and her sisters Louise
and Irlene
, as well as her parents, founded the Mandrell Family Band. They toured across the United States
and Asia. The drummer in the band, Ken Dudney, became Mandrell's husband shortly after graduating from Oceanside High School
.
. Her father was then her manager and with his help, she signed with Columbia Records
in 1969. Over the next couple of years, Mandrell had a few minor hits. Her producer at the time was Billy Sherrill
, known for producing other well-known singers in country music such as Tammy Wynette
, Charlie Rich
and Tanya Tucker
.
, she received offers for recording contracts from six record companies. After signing with Columbia in 1969, she notched her first chart hit, a remake of the Otis Redding
classic "I've Been Loving You Too Long". In 1970, Mandrell scored the first of many Top 40 hits with "Playin' Around With Love". In the same year, she began performing with singer David Houston
, and their partnership also generated considerable chart success. Mandrell's first releases earned respect from her country peers, but her first big breakthrough with fans came in 1973 with the single "The Midnight Oil".
While with Columbia Records
, Mandrell worked with legendary country producer Billy Sherrill, who also produced Charlie Rich and Tammy Wynette. Under Sherrill's direction, Mandrell recorded country-soul material, which never gained her widespread success. Her early hits included 1971's "Tonight My Baby's Comin' Home" and 1970's "After Closing Time" (a duet with David Houston). Her records barely sold on the Columbia label. Sherrill later said in the book, How Nashville Became Music City, that he was continually asked every year by the other Columbia executives why he was keeping Mandrell because she wasn't selling records. Sherrill kept Mandrell with the label until 1975.
label, and under the guidance of producer Tom Collins
reached the Top Five for the first time with the single "Standing Room Only". After a series of successive hits, she earned her second No. 1 with 1978's "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed
", immediately followed by another chart-topper, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right
" in early 1979. "If Loving You Is Wrong" was also a major crossover smash, becoming Mandrell's only single to reach the Top 40 on the pop chart, peaking at No. 31. The song also peaked in the Top 10 on Adult Contemporary radio stations.
During the 1980s Mandrell had more hits, including "Crackers" and "Wish You Were Here". All of these singles and more reached the country Top 10 and some also hit No. 1, including "Years". Three more singles hit No. 1—"I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool", "'Till You're Gone", and "One of a Kind, Pair of Fools"— between 1981 and 1983, a period during which Mandrell also received many industry awards and accolades. "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" is one of Mandrell's best-known songs. The best-known version is the live version featuring George Jones
. In 1983, she won a Grammy award
for "Best Inspirational Performance" for the song, "He Set My Life to Music".
In 1980 Mandrell became the third woman to win the "Entertainer of the Year" award from the Country Music Association
. She repeated history in 1981 by winning the award for the second time. This was unprecedented, as in prior to her, it was presumed that it only went to an artist once—but she nabbed it a second year in a row with her non-stop touring, hit records, and popular TV show. This began the huge array of awards and she would win: several CMA, ACM, and MCN awards, seven American Music Awards, and nine People's Choice, making her one of the most awarded country acts in history.
A collection of duets with Lee Greenwood
, Meant for Each Other, followed in 1984. From the duet album, Greenwood and Mandrell had a series of hits on the country chart between 1984 and 1985, including the Top 5 hit, "To Me", and the Top 20 "It Should Have Been Love By Now".
Also in 1984, she opened a fan-based attraction across from the Country Music Hall of Fame in the heart of Music Row in Nashville
called Barbara Mandrell Country.
advocate, especially because prior to the accident, neither she nor her two children Matthew and Jaimie (also involved in the accident) were normally seat belt wearers. Mandrell saw a truck in front of her with children not being restrained in the back and felt the need to tell her children to buckle up just before the crash.
During the recuperation period, Mandrell was unable to work and therefore needed to collect on her insurance to pay for medical bills and to keep her band paid. Mandrell was informed that under Tennessee law, she had to sue the estate of Mark White, 19, of Lebanon, Tennessee, in order to collect. It went misunderstood for years, until she was allowed to clarify it in 1990 on The Oprah Winfrey Show
.
", and "Fast Lanes and Country Roads". In 1986, she teamed up with the Oak Ridge Boys for a duet "When You Get to the Heart", which reached the Top 20. Later that year, she released the album Moments
, spawning the noticeably more traditional-sounding Country #6 single "No One Mends A Broken Heart Like You".
Beginning in 1986, the country music landscape had changed dramatically, with the "new traditionalist" movement gaining dominance with artists like George Strait
, Reba McEntire
, Randy Travis
and Patty Loveless
, while the glitzier, more pop-influenced music Mandrell released began falling out of favor.
Her popularity began to fade by the end of the decade. At the end of 1986, she ended her long association with MCA Records
and signed with EMI America Records. In the summer of 1987, she released her debut album with this label, Sure Feels Good
, which had a #13 hit with the lead-off single "Child Support". The two subsequent singles, the title track and "Angels Love Bad Men (which featured the song's writer, Waylon Jennings
, on the closing chorus), failed to crack the Top 40 Country Singles Chart, peaking at #48 and #49 respectively.
Mandrell had her last charting country Top 40 singles from the album, I'll Be Your Jukebox Tonight
, "I Wish That I Could Fall In Love Today" (No. 5) in the autumn of 1988, and "My Train of Thought" (No. 19) in the spring of 1989.
, which featured a duet performance of "Crazy Arms
" with Ray Price
and a remake of Price's "You Wouldn't Know Love if It Looked You in the Eye". By contrast, on the same album, she covered a then-recent R&B hit for newcomer Karyn White
, "I'm Not Your Superwoman". Although she did not achieve her earlier chart success, Mandrell continued to release albums and singles until 1992. In 1997, she released her last studio album to date, It Works for Me after a five-year hiatus. Also that year she shocked fans by stating she was leaving her country music career and moving more into acting. She held her last concert at the Grand Ole Opry in October 1997, and it was televised on TNN to huge ratings. The title of the show was "The Last Dance." She remains a member of the Opry.
In October 1999 she was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame with other artists, Andy Griffith
, Loretta Lynn
, Gary S. Paxton
, David L Cook, Lulu Roman
and Jimmie Snow.
On October 17, 2006 Mandrell was honored with the release of a new tribute album titled She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool: A Tribute To Barbara Mandrell on BNA Records. The album debuted on Billboard's Country Albums chart at No. 25, her first album to chart since 1991's Key's In The Mailbox. The album featured country artists (Reba McEntire
, Kenny Chesney
, Sara Evans
, LeAnn Rimes
, Brad Paisley
, Dierks Bentley
, Blaine Larsen
, Terri Clark
, Gretchen Wilson
, Randy Owen
, Lorrie Morgan
, Shelby Lynne
& Willie Nelson
). GAC (Great American Country channel) had several specials throughout October to promote the album. Mandrell also hosted the Grand Ole Opry live on October 28, where several of the artists on the album sang many of her classics.
On November 6, 2006, Mandrell made an appearance on the 40th Annual CMA Awards. She presented the same award she won two consecutive years, "Entertainer of the Year", to Kenny Chesney to close the show.
Time-Life recently released a DVD collection called The Best of Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters on May 1, 2007 which features more than 40 guest musical performances including country superstars Johnny Cash
, Alabama
, Marty Robbins
, Kenny Rogers
, Dolly Parton
, The Statler Brothers, Ray Charles
, John Schneider
, Glen Campbell
and many more, as well as comedy legend Bob Hope
...sadly appearances by Phyllis Diller
and Andy Kaufman
were omitted from this DVD set. Many fans of the original series have expressed disappointment over the fact that the DVD release is heavily edited and omits most of the opening numbers and family oriented sketch comedy which rounded out the series.
On November 5, 2007, Mandrell, along with Vince Gill
and Rodney Crowell
, was awarded a star on Nashville's Walk of Fame. On May 17, 2009, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Roy Clark
and Charlie McCoy
.
, and Irlene Mandrell
, the show featured musical guests and comedy sketches. Each broadcast also closed with a gospel song, and in 1982 Mandrell released her own inspirational album, He Set My Life to Music. As a result of her busy schedule, she began suffering from vocal strain, and on doctor's orders pulled the plug on the television program in 1982. In 1983, she premiered The Lady Is a Champ, a Las Vegas stage show.
Mandrell had the starring role in Burning Rage alongside Tom Wopat in 1984 just prior to her car accident. Later, she also had guest star roles on hit shows, including: Empty Nest; Diagnosis: Murder
; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
; The Commish
; Baywatch
; Walker, Texas Ranger
; and Rockford Files. She even had a recurring featured role in the late 1990s on Aaron Spelling's daytime drama, Sunset Beach
.
Many of these performances can be seen on late-night television or on the DVD box sets of the respective shows. In 1990, she wrote an autobiography called Get to the Heart: My Story, which was a New York Times Bestseller for more than three months, and in 1997 became a highly rated CBS TV Movie of the Week starring Maureen McCormick
(Marcia on "The Brady Bunch
"). Mandrell promoted her autobiography on shows such as Sally Jessy Raphaël show
, Geraldo
, and The Oprah Winfrey Show, with whom she shared the "Woman of the World" honor in 1992. In primetime, she appeared on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson
, Ralph Emery
's Nashville Now
, and she even "rapped" during one of her three Arsenio
visits.
Mandrell's daughter, Jaime Dudney, was Miss Tennessee Teen USA
1993 and placed in the semi-finals at Miss Teen USA 1993
. Jaime was Miss Golden Globe in 1996, following a tradition where one son and one daughter of famous parents present the Golden statues. Following this, Jaime played her aunt, Irlene Mandrell
, in Get to the Heart (The Barbara Mandrell Story), and was seen on the long-running CBS daytime drama, As The World Turns
, from June 1998–January 2000. Mandrell's oldest son Kenneth "Matthew" Dudney is a gourmet chef who has worked in the Nashville area for many years. After several bouts with alcoholism, Matthew overcame the problem and married Christian recording artist Christy Sutherland
. He now travels with her as her personal manager. Mandrell's youngest son, Nathan Dudney, graduated from The University of Mississippi and shortly thereafter married his wife Hannah.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer best known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows that helped her become one of country's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
She was the first performer and is currently one of the only females in country music history to win the Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
's "Entertainer of the Year" award twice (the other being Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
), and she has also won the Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
's "Female Vocalist of the Year" twice.
Mandrell's first No. 1 hit was 1978's "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed
Sleeping Single in a Double Bed
"Sleeping Single In a Double Bed" is a 1978 single written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan and recorded by Barbara Mandrell for her album, Moods. "Sleeping Single In a Double Bed" would be Barbara Mandrell's twenty-sixth chart hit on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles, the first of six...
", immediately followed by "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right
(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right
" I Don't Want to Be Right" is a soul song written by Stax Records songwriters Homer Banks, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson. It has been performed by many singers, most notably by Luther Ingram, whose version topped the R&B chart for four weeks and rose to number three on the Billboard Hot 100...
" in early 1979. In 1980, "Years
Years (song)
"Years" is the title of a song written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan and recorded by Barbara Mandrell. The song would be Barbara Mandrell third number one on the country chart...
" also reached No. 1. She added one more chart topper in each of the next three years. "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool
I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool
"I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" is the title of a song written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan. It was recorded by American country artist Barbara Mandrell as a live version for her 1981 live album, Barbara Mandrell Live. It was released in April 1981 as lead single from the live album...
" (her signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
), then "'Till You're Gone
'Till You're Gone
"Till You're Gone" is the title of a song written by Walt Aldridge and Tom Brasfield and recorded by American country music artist Barbara Mandrell. "'Till You're Gone" would be Barbara Mandrell's fifth number one on the country chart...
" and "One of a Kind, Pair of Fools
One of a Kind, Pair of Fools
"One of a Kind Pair of Fools" is the title of a song written by R.C. Bannon and John Bettis and recorded by American country music artist Barbara Mandrell. It was released in July 1983 as the second and final single from the album, Spun Gold. The song was the last of six number one country singles...
"— all hit number one between 1981 and 1983, a period during which Mandrell also received numerous industry awards and accolades.
Childhood
Born the oldest daughter into a musical family in Houston, TexasHouston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
on Christmas Day of 1948, Barbara Mandrell was already reading music and playing accordion at age five. Six years later, she was so adept at playing steel guitar
Steel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
that her father brought her to a music trade convention in Chicago, where her talents caught the attention of Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
and Joe Maphis
Joe Maphis
Joe Maphis, born Otis W. Maphis , was an American country music guitarist. He married singer Rose Lee Maphis in 1948....
. Soon after, she became a featured performer in Maphis' Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
nightclub show, followed by tours with Red Foley
Red Foley
Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....
, Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
and Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
. Her network TV debut came on the NBC-TV series Five Star Jubilee
Five Star Jubilee
Five Star Jubilee was an American country music variety show carried by NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a spin-off of ABC-TV's Jubilee USA, was the first network color television series to originate outside New York City or Hollywood.From March 17 to May 5, the...
in 1961.
While growing up, she was taught the pedal steel and lap steel guitars and many other instruments, including the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
. She played steel guitar for the legendary Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
. Cline once wrote to a friend in a letter that Mandrell was, "a 13 year old blonde doll that plays the steel guitar out of this world! What a show woman!" Mandrell toured as a 13-year-old with Cline, Johnny Cash, and George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
. She also played guitar for Joe Maphis in Las Vegas and on the Town Hall Party
Town Hall Party
Town Hall Party was an American country music radio and television show broadcast over KXLA-AM, Pasadena, California, KFI-AM, Los Angeles, California, and KTTV-TV. The first radio broadcast was in the autumn of 1951.Promoter William B...
show in Los Angeles. A couple of years later, Barbara and her sisters Louise
Louise Mandrell
Thelma Louise Mandrell, also known as Louise Mandrell, was born July 13, 1954 and is an American country music singer. She is the younger sister of country singer Barbara Mandrell, and older sister of actress Irlene Mandrell. Louise had a successful singing career in country music with a string of...
and Irlene
Irlene Mandrell
Ellen Irlene Mandrell is an American musician, actress and model. She is the younger sister of country singers Barbara Mandrell and Louise Mandrell.Irlene Mandrell was born in Corpus Christi, Texas...
, as well as her parents, founded the Mandrell Family Band. They toured across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Asia. The drummer in the band, Ken Dudney, became Mandrell's husband shortly after graduating from Oceanside High School
Oceanside High School
-Campus:Oceanside High School rests between the beach and Interstate 5. The remodeled campus includes many palm trees and new sport fields. There is a three-story Science & technology building and Senior Hall...
.
Career discovery
Dudney later enlisted in the Navy, serving as a pilot, and was sent overseas. Mandrell decided that she would become a country singer and moved to NashvilleNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. Her father was then her manager and with his help, she signed with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1969. Over the next couple of years, Mandrell had a few minor hits. Her producer at the time was Billy Sherrill
Billy Sherrill
Billy Sherrill is a record producer and arranger who is most famous for his association with a number of country artists, most notably Tammy Wynette...
, known for producing other well-known singers in country music such as Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette
Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....
, Charlie Rich
Charlie Rich
Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver...
and Tanya Tucker
Tanya Tucker
Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...
.
1969–1974: Country beginnings
Within 48 hours of a nightclub appearance near the Grand Ole OpryGrand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
, she received offers for recording contracts from six record companies. After signing with Columbia in 1969, she notched her first chart hit, a remake of the Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
classic "I've Been Loving You Too Long". In 1970, Mandrell scored the first of many Top 40 hits with "Playin' Around With Love". In the same year, she began performing with singer David Houston
David Houston (singer)
Charles David Houston was an American country music singer. His peak in popularity came between the mid-1960s through the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, and their partnership also generated considerable chart success. Mandrell's first releases earned respect from her country peers, but her first big breakthrough with fans came in 1973 with the single "The Midnight Oil".
While with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Mandrell worked with legendary country producer Billy Sherrill, who also produced Charlie Rich and Tammy Wynette. Under Sherrill's direction, Mandrell recorded country-soul material, which never gained her widespread success. Her early hits included 1971's "Tonight My Baby's Comin' Home" and 1970's "After Closing Time" (a duet with David Houston). Her records barely sold on the Columbia label. Sherrill later said in the book, How Nashville Became Music City, that he was continually asked every year by the other Columbia executives why he was keeping Mandrell because she wasn't selling records. Sherrill kept Mandrell with the label until 1975.
1975–1984: Country-pop
In 1975, Mandrell jumped to the ABC/DotABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
label, and under the guidance of producer Tom Collins
Tom Collins
The Tom Collins is a type of Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar and carbonated water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by "the father of American mixology" Jerry Thomas, this "Gin and Sparkling Lemonade" drink typically is served in a Collins glass over ice.-History:In 1874,...
reached the Top Five for the first time with the single "Standing Room Only". After a series of successive hits, she earned her second No. 1 with 1978's "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed
Sleeping Single in a Double Bed
"Sleeping Single In a Double Bed" is a 1978 single written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan and recorded by Barbara Mandrell for her album, Moods. "Sleeping Single In a Double Bed" would be Barbara Mandrell's twenty-sixth chart hit on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles, the first of six...
", immediately followed by another chart-topper, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right
(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right
" I Don't Want to Be Right" is a soul song written by Stax Records songwriters Homer Banks, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson. It has been performed by many singers, most notably by Luther Ingram, whose version topped the R&B chart for four weeks and rose to number three on the Billboard Hot 100...
" in early 1979. "If Loving You Is Wrong" was also a major crossover smash, becoming Mandrell's only single to reach the Top 40 on the pop chart, peaking at No. 31. The song also peaked in the Top 10 on Adult Contemporary radio stations.
During the 1980s Mandrell had more hits, including "Crackers" and "Wish You Were Here". All of these singles and more reached the country Top 10 and some also hit No. 1, including "Years". Three more singles hit No. 1—"I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool", "'Till You're Gone", and "One of a Kind, Pair of Fools"— between 1981 and 1983, a period during which Mandrell also received many industry awards and accolades. "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" is one of Mandrell's best-known songs. The best-known version is the live version featuring George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
. In 1983, she won a Grammy award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for "Best Inspirational Performance" for the song, "He Set My Life to Music".
In 1980 Mandrell became the third woman to win the "Entertainer of the Year" award from the Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
. She repeated history in 1981 by winning the award for the second time. This was unprecedented, as in prior to her, it was presumed that it only went to an artist once—but she nabbed it a second year in a row with her non-stop touring, hit records, and popular TV show. This began the huge array of awards and she would win: several CMA, ACM, and MCN awards, seven American Music Awards, and nine People's Choice, making her one of the most awarded country acts in history.
A collection of duets with Lee Greenwood
Lee Greenwood
Melvin Lee Greenwood is an American country music artist. Active since the early 1980s, he has released more than twenty major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the Billboard country music charts....
, Meant for Each Other, followed in 1984. From the duet album, Greenwood and Mandrell had a series of hits on the country chart between 1984 and 1985, including the Top 5 hit, "To Me", and the Top 20 "It Should Have Been Love By Now".
Also in 1984, she opened a fan-based attraction across from the Country Music Hall of Fame in the heart of Music Row in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
called Barbara Mandrell Country.
1984: Motor vehicle accident
While Mandrell was at the peak of her popularity, she had a major setback when she was involved in a serious automobile accident on September 11, 1984. According to Toni Reinhold in Redbook magazine, the singer "sustained multiple fractures in her right leg, including a broken thigh bone, knee and ankle. She also suffered lacerations and abrasions and a severe concussion that caused temporary memory loss, confusion and speech difficulties." Though after a year-and-a-half of rehabilitation, she recovered and returned to recording and performing. Mandrell told interviewers that the accident made her reassess her priorities; thus she retired in November 1997 and now spends more time with her family. She no longer performs or makes public appearances. Mandrell is now a confirmed seat beltSeat belt
A seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
advocate, especially because prior to the accident, neither she nor her two children Matthew and Jaimie (also involved in the accident) were normally seat belt wearers. Mandrell saw a truck in front of her with children not being restrained in the back and felt the need to tell her children to buckle up just before the crash.
During the recuperation period, Mandrell was unable to work and therefore needed to collect on her insurance to pay for medical bills and to keep her band paid. Mandrell was informed that under Tennessee law, she had to sue the estate of Mark White, 19, of Lebanon, Tennessee, in order to collect. It went misunderstood for years, until she was allowed to clarify it in 1990 on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
.
1985–1989: Return to music
Mandrell returned in 1985, and continued to have hits among the Top 10 on the country chart, including "There's No Love In Tennessee", "Angel in Your ArmsAngel in Your Arms
"Angel in Your Arms" is the title of a 1977 Top Ten hit for Hot - also a Top Ten country music 1985 hit for Barbara Mandrell - composed by Herbert Clayton Ivey, Terrence Woodford and Herbert Thomas Brasfield Jr....
", and "Fast Lanes and Country Roads". In 1986, she teamed up with the Oak Ridge Boys for a duet "When You Get to the Heart", which reached the Top 20. Later that year, she released the album Moments
Moments (Barbara Mandrell album)
Moments is the nineteenth studio album released by American country artist Barbara Mandrell. The album was released in August 1986 on MCA Records and was produced by Tom Collins...
, spawning the noticeably more traditional-sounding Country #6 single "No One Mends A Broken Heart Like You".
Beginning in 1986, the country music landscape had changed dramatically, with the "new traditionalist" movement gaining dominance with artists like George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...
, Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
, Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
and Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...
, while the glitzier, more pop-influenced music Mandrell released began falling out of favor.
Her popularity began to fade by the end of the decade. At the end of 1986, she ended her long association with MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
and signed with EMI America Records. In the summer of 1987, she released her debut album with this label, Sure Feels Good
Sure Feels Good (album)
Sure Feels Good is the twentieth studio album released by American country artist Barbara Mandrell. The album was released in August 1987 on EMI America Records and was produced by Tom Collins...
, which had a #13 hit with the lead-off single "Child Support". The two subsequent singles, the title track and "Angels Love Bad Men (which featured the song's writer, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, on the closing chorus), failed to crack the Top 40 Country Singles Chart, peaking at #48 and #49 respectively.
Mandrell had her last charting country Top 40 singles from the album, I'll Be Your Jukebox Tonight
I'll Be Your Jukebox Tonight
I'll Be Your Jukebox Tonight is the twenty first studio album by American country artist Barbara Mandrell. The album was released in September 1988 on Capitol Records and was produced by Tom Collins...
, "I Wish That I Could Fall In Love Today" (No. 5) in the autumn of 1988, and "My Train of Thought" (No. 19) in the spring of 1989.
1990–present: Current music career
As the 1990s began, she began focusing almost exclusively on live performing, where she remained a significant draw. In 1990, she released the album Morning Sun (album)Morning Sun (album)
Morning Sun is the twenty second studio album released by American country artist Barbara Mandrell. The album was released in April 1990 on Capitol Records...
, which featured a duet performance of "Crazy Arms
Crazy Arms
"Crazy Arms" is an American country song recorded by Ray Price. The song, released in May 1956, went on to become a hit that year and a honky-tonk standard. It was Price's first number one hit. The song was written by Ralph Mooney and Charles Seals...
" with Ray Price
Ray Price (musician)
Ray Price is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music...
and a remake of Price's "You Wouldn't Know Love if It Looked You in the Eye". By contrast, on the same album, she covered a then-recent R&B hit for newcomer Karyn White
Karyn White
Karyn White was a new jack swing singer who became popular during the late 1980s.-Biography:White was born in Los Angeles,to the parentage of Vivian and Clarence White. She is the youngest of five children...
, "I'm Not Your Superwoman". Although she did not achieve her earlier chart success, Mandrell continued to release albums and singles until 1992. In 1997, she released her last studio album to date, It Works for Me after a five-year hiatus. Also that year she shocked fans by stating she was leaving her country music career and moving more into acting. She held her last concert at the Grand Ole Opry in October 1997, and it was televised on TNN to huge ratings. The title of the show was "The Last Dance." She remains a member of the Opry.
In October 1999 she was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame with other artists, Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
, Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, Gary S. Paxton
Gary S. Paxton
Gary S. Paxton, sometimes Pax , is an American record producer, and a Grammy Award and Dove Award winning songwriter and recording artist.-Biography:...
, David L Cook, Lulu Roman
Lulu Roman
Lulu Roman is a former telephone operator and go-go dancer turned comedian and singer. She is probably best known as a regular on the comedy-music television series Hee Haw....
and Jimmie Snow.
On October 17, 2006 Mandrell was honored with the release of a new tribute album titled She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool: A Tribute To Barbara Mandrell on BNA Records. The album debuted on Billboard's Country Albums chart at No. 25, her first album to chart since 1991's Key's In The Mailbox. The album featured country artists (Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
, Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth "Kenny" Arnold Chesney is an American country music singer and songwriter. Chesney has recorded 15 albums, 14 of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than 30 Top Ten singles on the U.S...
, Sara Evans
Sara Evans
Sara Lynn Evans is an American country singer and songwriter.Evans was one of the few traditional-styled singers to emerge from Nashville in the late 1990s, according to Allmusic. Since emerging in the late 1990s, Evans has made five No. 1 Country hits and Gold and Platinum-certified albums by...
, LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
, Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
, Dierks Bentley
Dierks Bentley
Dierks Bentley is an American country music artist who has been signed to Capitol Records Nashville since 2003. That year, he released his self-titled debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's Modern Day Drifter, are certified platinum in the United States. A third album, 2006's Long Trip...
, Blaine Larsen
Blaine Larsen
Blaine Larsen is an American country music artist. He was raised in Buckley, Washington. At age fifteen, he recorded his debut album In My High School on Giantslayer Records, an independent record label. The album was re-issued in 2005 as Off to Join the World by BNA Records...
, Terri Clark
Terri Clark
Terri Lynn Sauson , known professionally as Terri Clark, is a Canadian country music artist who has had success in both Canada and the United States. Signed to Mercury Records in 1995, she released her self-titled debut that year...
, Gretchen Wilson
Gretchen Wilson
Gretchen Frances Wilson is an American country music artist. She made her debut in 2004 with the Grammy Award-winning single "Redneck Woman," a number-one hit on the Billboard country charts. The song served as the lead-off single of her debut album, Here for the Party...
, Randy Owen
Randy Owen
Randy Owen is an American country music artist. He is known primarily for his role as the lead singer of Alabama, a country rock band which saw considerable mainstream success throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Although Alabama only records new albums on occasion, Owen himself has maintained a career...
, Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
, Shelby Lynne
Shelby Lynne
Shelby Lynne is an American singer, songwriter and actress. The success of the 1999 album I Am Shelby Lynne led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, even though she had been active in the music industry for some time...
& Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
). GAC (Great American Country channel) had several specials throughout October to promote the album. Mandrell also hosted the Grand Ole Opry live on October 28, where several of the artists on the album sang many of her classics.
On November 6, 2006, Mandrell made an appearance on the 40th Annual CMA Awards. She presented the same award she won two consecutive years, "Entertainer of the Year", to Kenny Chesney to close the show.
Time-Life recently released a DVD collection called The Best of Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters on May 1, 2007 which features more than 40 guest musical performances including country superstars Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Alabama
Alabama (band)
Alabama is a country music and southern rock band from Fort Payne, Alabama, United States. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen and his cousin Teddy Gentry , soon joined by Jeff Cook...
, Marty Robbins
Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
, Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, The Statler Brothers, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, John Schneider
John Schneider (television actor)
John Richard Schneider III is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of Bo Duke in the 1980s American television series The Dukes of Hazzard, and as Jonathan Kent on Smallville, a 2001 television adaptation of Superman.Alongside his acting career, Schneider performed as a...
, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
and many more, as well as comedy legend Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
...sadly appearances by Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
and Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
were omitted from this DVD set. Many fans of the original series have expressed disappointment over the fact that the DVD release is heavily edited and omits most of the opening numbers and family oriented sketch comedy which rounded out the series.
On November 5, 2007, Mandrell, along with Vince Gill
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
and Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell is a Grammy Award-winning musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music....
, was awarded a star on Nashville's Walk of Fame. On May 17, 2009, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Roy Clark
Roy Clark
Roy Linwood Clark is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre...
and Charlie McCoy
Charlie McCoy
Charles "Charlie" Ray McCoy is an American musician noted for his harmonica playing. In his career, McCoy has backed several notable musicians including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Astor, Elvis Presley and Ween. He has also recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records...
.
Acting career
In 1980, the TV program Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters premiered on NBC. In addition to hosts Barbara, LouiseLouise Mandrell
Thelma Louise Mandrell, also known as Louise Mandrell, was born July 13, 1954 and is an American country music singer. She is the younger sister of country singer Barbara Mandrell, and older sister of actress Irlene Mandrell. Louise had a successful singing career in country music with a string of...
, and Irlene Mandrell
Irlene Mandrell
Ellen Irlene Mandrell is an American musician, actress and model. She is the younger sister of country singers Barbara Mandrell and Louise Mandrell.Irlene Mandrell was born in Corpus Christi, Texas...
, the show featured musical guests and comedy sketches. Each broadcast also closed with a gospel song, and in 1982 Mandrell released her own inspirational album, He Set My Life to Music. As a result of her busy schedule, she began suffering from vocal strain, and on doctor's orders pulled the plug on the television program in 1982. In 1983, she premiered The Lady Is a Champ, a Las Vegas stage show.
Mandrell had the starring role in Burning Rage alongside Tom Wopat in 1984 just prior to her car accident. Later, she also had guest star roles on hit shows, including: Empty Nest; Diagnosis: Murder
Diagnosis: Murder
Diagnosis: Murder is a mystery/medical/crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son, a homicide detective played by his real-life son Barry Van Dyke. The series began as a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman...
; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman is an American post-Civil War western/drama series created by Beth Sullivan. Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn, played by Jane Seymour, left Boston in search of adventure. She goes to Colorado Springs, Colorado where she establishes herself as doctor/adviser.The show ran on CBS...
; The Commish
The Commish
The Commish is a television series that aired on ABC in the United States from 1991 to 1996. The series focused on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in upstate New York....
; Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
; Walker, Texas Ranger
Walker, Texas Ranger
Walker, Texas Ranger is an American television action crime drama series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis, and starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texas Ranger Division. The show aired on CBS in the spring of 1993, with the first season consisting of three pilot episodes. Eight full...
; and Rockford Files. She even had a recurring featured role in the late 1990s on Aaron Spelling's daytime drama, Sunset Beach
Sunset Beach (TV series)
Sunset Beach was an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on January 6, 1997, and last airing on December 31, 1999. The show followed the loves and lives of the people living in a fictional coastal city named Sunset Beach, on the coast of California...
.
Many of these performances can be seen on late-night television or on the DVD box sets of the respective shows. In 1990, she wrote an autobiography called Get to the Heart: My Story, which was a New York Times Bestseller for more than three months, and in 1997 became a highly rated CBS TV Movie of the Week starring Maureen McCormick
Maureen McCormick
Maureen Denise McCormick is an American actress, celebrity and recording artist. She is most widely known as a child actress who played Marcia Brady in the television series The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974.- Early life and career :...
(Marcia on "The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
"). Mandrell promoted her autobiography on shows such as Sally Jessy Raphaël show
Sally Jessy Raphaël show
Sally is an American syndicated tabloid talk show that was hosted by radio talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael. It originally was a local St...
, Geraldo
Geraldo (TV series)
Geraldo is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Geraldo Rivera that aired in syndication from September 7, 1987, to June 12, 1998. On the last two seasons, it was known as The Geraldo Rivera Show. Both titles were produced by Investigative News Group in association with Tribune...
, and The Oprah Winfrey Show, with whom she shared the "Woman of the World" honor in 1992. In primetime, she appeared on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
, Ralph Emery
Ralph Emery
Walter Ralph Emery is a country music disc jockey and television host from Nashville, Tennessee. He gained national fame hosting the syndicated television music series, Pop! Goes the Country, from 1974 to 1980 and the nightly Nashville Network television program, Nashville Now, from 1983 to 1993...
's Nashville Now
Nashville Now
Nashville Now is a television talk show that focused on country music performers. It aired live weeknights on The Nashville Network from 1983-1993. The host was Nashville TV/radio personality Ralph Emery. The show won several Emmy awards during its run. A frequent guest and substitute host was...
, and she even "rapped" during one of her three Arsenio
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
visits.
Personal life
Barbara Mandrell married Ken Dudney on May 28, 1967. Dudney had been the drummer in the Mandrell Family Band. Mandrell and Dudney have three children, Kenneth Matthew Dudney (b.1970), Jaime Nicole Dudney (b.1976), and Nathaniel Mandrell Dudney (b.1985).Mandrell's daughter, Jaime Dudney, was Miss Tennessee Teen USA
Miss Tennessee Teen USA
The Miss Tennessee Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Tennessee in the Miss Teen USA pageant....
1993 and placed in the semi-finals at Miss Teen USA 1993
Miss Teen USA 1993
Miss Teen USA 1993, the eleventh Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi on 10 August 1993....
. Jaime was Miss Golden Globe in 1996, following a tradition where one son and one daughter of famous parents present the Golden statues. Following this, Jaime played her aunt, Irlene Mandrell
Irlene Mandrell
Ellen Irlene Mandrell is an American musician, actress and model. She is the younger sister of country singers Barbara Mandrell and Louise Mandrell.Irlene Mandrell was born in Corpus Christi, Texas...
, in Get to the Heart (The Barbara Mandrell Story), and was seen on the long-running CBS daytime drama, As The World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
, from June 1998–January 2000. Mandrell's oldest son Kenneth "Matthew" Dudney is a gourmet chef who has worked in the Nashville area for many years. After several bouts with alcoholism, Matthew overcame the problem and married Christian recording artist Christy Sutherland
Christy Sutherland
Christy Sutherland is a Nashville country music and praise/worship singer-songwriter. Signed to Epic Records in 2004, she charted the single "Freedom" on the Hot Country Songs charts. She is married to Kenneth Matthew Dudney, son of Country music star, Barbara Mandrell. The two were wed on July...
. He now travels with her as her personal manager. Mandrell's youngest son, Nathan Dudney, graduated from The University of Mississippi and shortly thereafter married his wife Hannah.
Awards
| Year | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum | Inductee |
| 2008 | People Magazine | Ranked in "100 Most Beautiful at any age" list |
| 2007 | People Magazine | Ranked in "100 Most Beautiful" list |
| 2005 | Academy of Country Music | Triple Crown Award |
| 2002 | CMT's "40 Greatest Women of Country Music" | Rank - #38 |
| 2001 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Pioneer Award |
| 1999 | Country-Gospel Music Hall of Fame | Elected to the Country-Gospel Hall of Fame |
| 1992 | Woman of the World | Woman of the World Award (tied w/ Oprah Winfrey) |
| 1991 | TNN/Music City News Awards | Minnie Pearl Award |
| 1987 | People's Choice Award | All-Around Female Performer |
| 1987 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist |
| 1986 | People's Choice Awards | All-Around Female Performer |
| 1985 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite All-Around Female Performer |
| 1985 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Female Musical Performer |
| 1985 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist |
| 1985 | Music City News Country | Living Legend Award |
| 1984 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite All-Around Female Musical Performer |
| 1984 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist |
| 1984 | Grammy Awards | Best Soul Gospel Duo Performance - "I'm So Glad We're Standing Here Today" (w/ Bobby Jones) |
| 1983 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite All-Around Female Performer |
| 1983 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist |
| 1983 | Grammy Awards | Best Inspirational Performance - "He Set My Life to Music" |
| 1982 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite All-Around Female Performer |
| 1982 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Female Personality |
| 1982 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Female Musical Performer |
| 1982 | Music City News Country | Female Artist of the Year |
| 1982 | Music City News Country | Instrumentalist of the Year |
| 1981 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist |
| 1981 | Country Music Association Awards | Entertainer of the Year |
| 1981 | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year |
| 1981 | American Music Awards | Favorite Female Country Artist |
| 1981 | Music City News Country | Comedian of the Year |
| 1981 | Music City News Country | Female Artist of the Year |
| 1981 | Music City News Country | Instrumentalist of the Year |
| 1981 | People Magazine | 25 Most Intriguing List |
| 1980 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Entertainer of the Year |
| 1980 | Country Music Association Awards | Entertainer of the Year |
| 1980 | American Music Awards | Favorite Country Single - "Sleeping Single In a Double Bed" |
| 1979 | Music City News Country | Female Artist of the Year |
| 1979 | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year |
| 1978 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist |
| 1976 | Music City News Country | Most Promising Female Artist of the Year |
| 1971 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top New Female Vocalist |