Queen of Country Music

Billed the Queen of Country Music, Kitty Wells began her career singing gospel music in church. Soon, she was singing at dances, and on local radio programs. Kitty met and married Johnny Wright and became part of the Johnny and Jack touring show.

By 1947, she was making appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. In 1952, she was under contract with Decca Records and scored her biggest hit, It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.

Kitty's achievements over the years are insurmountable. She was the first female in country music to chalk up a No. 1 hit since Billboard began charting singles in 1944. Kitty had 35 Top-10 singles and earned a "Lifetime" contract from Decca Records, the first female to do so. She recorded more than 460 singles and over forty albums for Decca. For 14 consecutive years, she was voted the No. 1 Country Female Artist by Billboard and Cash Box. That was all part of a trek that eventually solidified her rightful induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1976.

There isn't a vast amount of material available on Kitty Wells as the case with many legendary country music singers. Germany's Bear Family compiled a 4-CD box set of her 1949 - 1958 material titled, The Queen of Country Music. It features a considerable amount of her early recordings. However, some of her best hits, such as Left to Right, Heartbreak U.S.A and Meanwhile, Down At Joe's, took place in the 1960's. Hopefully, Bear will do a follow up to cover that era. Meanwhile, there are bargains to be found when looking for vintage material. The above pictured CD entitled The Best of Kitty Wells and released by Highland Music of Dearborn, MI, is such an example. This collection contains some big numbers, including Left to Right, Heartbreak U.S.A , Searching and On the Lonely Side of Town.


The Best of Kitty Wells is currently available at


Career Highlights

Birth Place - Nashville, TN

Career record Label - Decca

First Top 10 - It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (1952)

Biggest Hit - It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (1952)

Chart Run - 1952 - 1979

35 Top 10 Hits

Major Awards/Achievements

Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1976)

Academy of Country Music's Pioneer Award (1985)

Won Grammy's Lifetime Achievement Award (1991)

Music City News' Living Legend Award (1993)

Kitty Wells Home page

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Revised: 11/15/1999 | Thanks for visiting!