Nickname: The First Lady of Country Music
Genre: Country
Most Memorable Recording: "Walkin' After Midnight"
Followers: Loretta Lynn, Shelby Lynne, Lone Justice, Linda Ronstadt, Screaming Sirens, Deborah Allen, LeAnn Rimes, The Wilkinsons, Leigh Nash, The Souvenirs, Christopher Denny, Misty River, Christene LeDoux, Brandi Carlile, Ane Brun, Nicole Atkins, Texas Lightning, Girl in a Coma, Jill Barber, Sarah Asher, and many more.
Patsy Cline enjoyed pop music cross-over success during the era of the Nashville Sound in the early 1960s. Since her death at the age of 30 in a 1963 plane crash at the height of her career, she has been considered one of the most influential, successful, revered and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century. Her life and career has been the subject of numerous books, movies, documentaries, articles and stage plays. Cline was best known for her rich tone and emotionally expressive voice, which, along with her role as a mover and shaker in the Country Music industry, has been cited and praised as an inspiration by many vocalists of various music genres. Posthumously she has sold millions of albums over the past 50 years and won countless awards, which has given her an iconic fan status, similar to that of music legends Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. In 2001, she was voted by artists and members of the Country Music industry as #1 of 40 Greatest Women of Country Music of all time and in 1999 she was voted #11 of The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll of all time by members and artists of the rock industry. According to her 1973 Country Music Hall of Fame plaque: "Her heritage of timeless recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity." Among those hits: "Walkin' After Midnight", "I Fall to Pieces", "She's Got You", "Crazy", and "Sweet Dreams".
