Jean Shepard


Jean Shepard in June 2006

Background information
Birth name: Ollie Imogene Shepard
Born: November 21, 1933; Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died: September 25, 2016 (aged 82); Hendersonville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres: Country, honky tonk
Years active: 1952–2015

Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard (November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016) was an American honky-tonk singer-songwriter who pioneered for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which reached the number-one spot. She recorded a total of 24 studio albums between 1956 and 1981, and became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1955.

After Kitty Wells' 1952 breakthrough, Shepard quickly followed, and a national television gig and the Opry helped make her a star when few female country singers had enduring success. Her first hit, "A Dear John Letter", a 1953 duet with Ferlin Husky, was the first post-World War II record by a woman country artist to sell more than a million copies.

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1953–56: Breakthrough

Shepard's first chart appearance was 1953's duet with Ferlin Husky, with "A Dear John Letter". It was a number-one smash, and also became a major crossover pop hit, peaking at number four on the Billboard pop chart. The song struck a chord with audiences as it was a half-spoken duet about a soldier in the Korean War. The duo's follow-up, "Forgive Me John", was another crossover hit, peaking in the top 10 on the country chart and the top 25 on the pop chart. Because at 20 she was still a minor, Shepard's parents signed her rights to Husky so she could tour.

In 1955, Shepard joined ABC-TV's nationally telecast Ozark Jubilee for several years, and recorded her first studio album, Songs of a Love Affair, written by Shepard. She also charted her first solo top-10 single, "A Satisfied Mind", that same year, backed by the number-13 hit, "Take Possession". "A Satisfied Mind" peaked at number four on the Billboard country chart. Shepard had another top-five hit the same year with "Beautiful Lies". Its flip side, "I Thought of You", peaked in the country top 10. Her streak of hit singles led to an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1955 as one of its few female stars; Kitty Wells and Minnie Pearl were the only others.

Because she was a honky-tonk singer when the Nashville sound was popular, Shepard had just two charting country singles between 1956 and 1963. Those two singles, 1958's "I Want to Go Where No One Knows Me" and 1959's "Have Heart Will Love", earned her the title of Cash Box's Top Female Artist of 1959.

In 1960, Shepard married fellow Opry star Hawkshaw Hawkins, whom she had met on Ozark Jubilee. He died three years later in the same plane crash that killed Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. Shepard gave birth to their son Hawkshaw Jr. just one month after the crash. She later married country music musician and singer Benny Birchfield; the two remained married until her death. He was injured in a stabbing along with their granddaughter, who died, December 18, 2016, in his home in Tennessee.

1964–78: Commercial resurgence


Jean Shepard in 1971

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