Connie Smith
b. Constance June Meadows, 14 August 1941, Elkhart, Indiana, USA but was raised in West Virginia and Ohio. One of 14 children, she longed to be a country singer and taught herself to play the guitar whilst in hospital recovering from a leg injury, caused by an accident with a lawn mower. She sang at local events as a teenager and appeared on several radio and television shows. She married and for a time settled to the life of a housewife but after the birth of her first child, again, took to singing. Her break came in 1963, when she was booked to sing at the Frontier Ranch, a park near Columbus. Headlining the show was Bill Anderson, who was so impressed with her performance that he invited her to Nashville to appear on the ERNEST TUBB RECORD SHOP live show. Two months later, she returned to make demo recordings, which won her an RCA contract. In 1964, her recording of Anderson's song Once A Day became her first hit, spending 8 weeks at number 1 and 28 weeks in the US country charts. She became an overnight success and in the next five years added more Top 10 hits including If I Talk To Him, The Hurtin's All Over, Cincinnati, Ohio and Baby's Back Again. She later recorded an album of Anderson's songs, although she did not work with him. She became a member of the GRAND OLE OPRY in 1965, was much in demand for tours and concert appearances and appeared in such films as ROAD TO NASHVILLE, LAS VEGAS HILLBILLIES and SECOND FIDDLE TO AN OLD GUITAR. In the early '70s, further Top 10 hits included I Never Once Stopped Loving You, Just One Time and Just For What I Am and tours included Europe, Australia and the Far East. She moved to Columbia in 1973, where her first hit came with a recording of her own song You've Got Me Right Where You Want Me and in 1977 to Monument, where her biggest hit was a country version of I Just Want To Be Your Everything (a pop number 1 for Andy Gibb). From 1979-85, she was absent from the charts as she retired from active participation in music, apart from some OPRY appearances, as she devoted her time to raising her family. A born-again Christian (her eldest son Darren is a missionary), she has performed gospel music on the OPRY and recorded an album of Hank Williams' gospel songs. She regularly plays the OPRY, network radio and television shows and delighted her British fans by her appearance in Britain in 1990.