Born: December 25, 1948
Place of Birth: Houston, Texas
Major Notes:
Barbara Mandrell is considered an icon in the world of Country and Western music.
She not only was born into a family of C&W influence, but also demonstrated a keen sense for music at a young age.
For example, by age 11, she could play both the accordion and the steel guitar.
Her father brought her to a sales convention where she was "discovered" and soon she was working on stage with such stars as Johnny Cash and George Jones.
After Mandrell had completed a tour with the Johnny Cash Show, her father decided to form The Mandrell Family Band.
A brief family quarrel arose when she was warned by her parents not to get involved with the young drummer in the band.
Having her romantic ambitions shattered, Mandrell threw herself wholeheartedly into making music a career.
She had modest success on her first 1963 recording but, after signing with Columbia Records in 1969, a Mandrell song made the hit charts.
For the next several years, Mandrell only had moderate recording sales and, in 1975, she switched to the ABC/Dot record label.
Mandrell had a series of hit songs which started to appeal to a wider cross-over audience.
In the 80's, Mandrell was one of the top female singers and, amongst numerous honors, she was bestowed nine People's Choice Awards.
She also had an unfortunate car accident in the mid-80's which slowed her career for a point as she had to undergo major physiotherapy.
In 1990, because record sales were falling off, Mandrell decided to focus on live appearances.
During her career, Mandrell also worked in both television and the movie industries.
In 2009, Barbara Mandrell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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