Personalities | Crystal Gayle | Mainstream Country

(Vocals, b. 1951)

Loretta Lynn’s younger sister was born Brenda Gail Webb, and her professional career began as part of her older sister’s show. After minor success on Decca, she signed with United Artists in 1974, which resulted in an almost-immediate change of fortunes. The lilting Top 10 hit, ‘Wrong Road Again’ (1975), opened the floodgates, and big, soulful ballads brought her 18 country No. 1s throughout the 1970s and 1980s. ‘Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue’ (1977) ensured her international stardom when it reached the Top 3 on Billboard’s pop chart and became a major success story for record producer Allen Reynolds. CMA Female Vocalist Of The Year in 1977 and 1978, Gayle sang on the soundtrack of the 1986 Francis Ford Coppola movie One From The Heart, and her 1982 duet with Eddie Rabbitt, ‘You And I’, was also a country chart-topper. At times, Gayle’s hair reaches five feet in length!

Styles & Forms | Mainstream Country
Personalities | Brian Golbey | Mainstream Country

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

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