Dottie West

[Kaz ~:~]

Dottie West

Date of Birth 11 October 1932, Smithville, Tennessee, USA

Date of Death 4 September 1991, Nashville, Tennessee, USA (road accident)

Birth Name Dorothy Marie Marsh
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Dottie West was one of country music's greatest female stars for 30 years. Her career began in 1959 when she made her first recording for Starday Records. She first made the national charts in 1963 and the following year had a blockbuster country hit with "Here Comes My Baby Back Again" which would earn her the Best Country Female Vocal Grammy Award. Her hits continued through the rest of the 1960's and into the 1970's, a highpoint being her song "Country Sunshine" in 1973 which earned her two more Grammy nominations and was used in an iconic Coca-Cola commercial.

In 1978 she recorded a duet album with pop/country superstar Kenny Rogers that brought her even greater fame and many awards, and launched Dottie's solo career to even new heights including three number records and her hits crossing over to chart on the pop/rock charts as well. This new music super-stardom for Dottie led to multiple appearances on all the major variety and talk shows of the era as well as acting gigs on "The Dukes of Hazard", "The Fall Guy" and "The Love Boat".

Dottie's career began to recede by 1985 with the last of her hits and fewer television appearances. She died in 1991 from injuries in a car accident at age 58 but will always be remembered as one of the great queens of country music.

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Spouses
Al Winters (28 June 1983 - 1990) (divorced)

Byron Metcalf (27 August 1973 - 1981) (divorced)

Bill West (1953 - 1972) (divorced) (4 children)

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Her 1973 No. 2 hit, "Country Sunshine", was used in Coca-Cola commercials in the mid- and late-1970s.

Had a highly successful string of duets with Kenny Rogers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with three of their duets going to No. 1 -- "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (1978); "All I Ever Need is You" (1979); and "What are We Doin' in Love" (1981). West's other successful duet partners included Jim Reeves (most notably, 1964's "Love is No Excuse") and Don Gibson (biggest duet hit was "Rings of Gold" in 1969).

Her 1980 No. 1 hit, "Lesson in Leavin'" became a major hit once again in 1999 by Jo Dee Messina (who stayed at No. 2 for seven weeks with the re-make). Both West and Messina are redheads.

Is portrayed by Michele Lee in Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story (1995)
In an interview in April 1964 (only three months before his death), eventual Country Music Hall of Fame member "Gentleman" Jim Reeves predicted Dottie would be "the next great female Country Music artist", and told fans to "keep an eye on that name, Dottie West".

Her daughter, Shelly West, married Dottie's lead guitarist, Allen Frizzell', but they later divorced.

First country female vocalist to win a Grammy award.