Kitty Wells photo courtesy of countrymusichalloffame.com.
July 10, 2008 — Kitty Wells, whose recordings in the 1950s blazed a trail for country’s female artists, will be the subject of a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Kitty Wells: Queen Of Country Music, Presented By Great American Country Television Network, opens Aug. 15 for a 10-month run.
"Many of contemporary country music’s biggest stars are women," Hall of Fame Director Kyle Young says, "but Kitty Wells is the prototype."
Her signature song, "It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," was the first by a solo female artist to top the Billboard country singles chart. She managed to forge a career and to simultaneously sustain a successful marriage to fellow artist Johnny Wright — they celebrated their 70th anniversary last October.
Among the artifacts that will be on display are her 1954 Gibson guitar, the gown she wore the night she was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award she received in 1991 and songwriter J.D. Miller’s original manuscript of "It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels."
Kitty will participate in ceremonies during the opening weekend, signing autographs and answering questions in an interview at the museum with WSM personality Eddie Stubbs.
Kitty Wells: Queen Of Country Music will remain on display through June 14, 2009.
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