Lynn Anderson Biography

Lynn Rene Anderson (born September 26, 1947) is an award-winning American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, most notably her country-pop, worldwide mega-hit, "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most popular and successful female country singers of the 1970s. In addition to being named "Top Female Vocalist" by the Academy of Country Music twice, "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the Country Music Association, and winning a Grammy Award, Anderson has charted 11 No. 1, 18 Top-10, and more than 50 Top-40 hits. She was the first female country artist to win an American Music Award in 1974, as well as the first to headline and sellout Madison Square Garden that same year. Anderson was named Billboard Magazine's Female Artist of the Decade (1970"1980).

Anderson debuted in 1966, at the age of 19, and had her first major hit with Ride, Ride, Ride. After a series of Top 10 hit singles on the country charts during the late 1960s, Anderson went on to sign with Columbia Records in 1970. Under Columbia, she had her most successful string of hits. Her signature song, "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden," remains one of the biggest selling country crossover hits of all time. In addition to being a mega country hit, the song also went to No. 3 on the Billboard Pop Chart. CMT ranks "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden" at No. 83 on its list of the "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music History".

Early life

Anderson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota and raised in Fair Oaks, California. She is the daughter of country music songwriters Casey and Liz Anderson. Lynn Anderson's grandfather was born in Aremark, Norway.

Anderson became interested in singing at the young age of six, but she had her first success in the horse show arena in and around California, where she would eventually win a total of 700 trophies, including the "California Horse Show Queen" title in 1966. Into her teens, she performed regularly on the local television program Country Caravan.

In 1965, she was working as a secretary at Top 40 radio station, KROY in Sacramento, California, when one of her mother's compositions, "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers" was recorded and became a No. 10 country hit by Merle Haggard. Her mother would sign as a country music recording artist with RCA Victor that same year. While accompanying her mother to Nashville, Anderson participated in an informal sing-along at a local hotel room with country stars Merle Haggard and Freddie Hart. One of the people present at the sing-along, Slim Williamson, owned Chart Records, a local record label. Williamson recognized Lynn Anderson's talent and invited her to record for his label. She began recording for Chart in 1966.

Music career

1966 – 1969: Country music success

In 1966, Lynn Anderson released her debut single, "For Better or for Worse", a duet with Jerry Lane which did not chart. Her first charting single and her third release on the Chart Label, "Ride, Ride, Ride", hit the Country Top 40. She had her first major hit single, "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)", the following year. It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard country chart. It was followed by another Top 5 hit, "Promises, Promises", from an album of the same name, which would also spawn a second Top 10 hit, "No Another Time", in 1968. Then she released "Mother May I", a Top 25 duet that she recorded with her mother. (The elder Anderson also achieved success as a country artist around the same time, achieving two Top 10 hits---"Mama Spank" (1966) and a trio with Bobby Bare and Norma Jean, "The Game of Triangles" (1967).)

In 1967, Lynn Anderson became a regular performer on The Lawrence Welk Show. and toured with the Welk Road Show. Her appearances on the show would later redound to her benefit. Because of the Welk show's widespread appeal, she was able to achieve success on the pop charts. In 1969, as her popularity grew, she left the Welk show in favor of sporadic guest appearances. In 1968, Anderson married songwriter and producer Glenn Sutton, who would later produce and write many of her records during her tenure with Columbia. Their marriage lasted nine years. Anderson released her biggest hit single under the Chart label, "That's a No No", which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Chart in 1969. Soon after, she left the label; signing with Columbia Records in 1970. Chart Records would continue to release Lynn Anderson singles thru the end of 1971, including five Top 20 hits: "He'd Still Love Me", "I've Been Everywhere", "Rocky Top", "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" and "I'm Alright."

1970 – 1980: Pop crossover

After signing with Columbia in 1970, Anderson released the Joe South song, "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden," which became a major crossover pop hit in 1970 and early 1971. The song was produced by her then husband Glenn Sutton. Anderson actually had to do some arm-twisting to get her producer-husband to allow her to record the song. Sutton was concerned that "Rose Garden" was a song to be sung by a man, with the line "I could promise you things like big diamond rings." It was Columbia executive Clive Davis who determined the song would be Anderson's next single released. The single peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard country chart and No. 3 on the Billboard pop chart, becoming an international success. In the United Kingdom, the single reached No. 3 and in Germany it peaked at No. 1 and stayed there for four weeks. The album, Rose Garden was released in 1971, and was also hugely successful, receiving platinum certification by the RIAA. Anderson won the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" Award and the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" Award in 1970 and 1971. In addition, she won a Grammy Award.

Lynn Anderson had two No. 1 hit singles on the Billboard country chart in 1971 with "You're My Man" and "How Can I Unlove You", both peaking at No. 63 on the Billboard pop chart. In 1972, Anderson had three Top 5 hits on the country charts, beginning with a cover version of the 50s pop hit, "Cry", followed by "Listen to a Country Song" and "Fool Me". These songs were included on the Listen to a Country Song album. "Cry" peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard magazine country chart and at No. 16 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In 1973, she had a fourth No. 1 country hit with "Keep Me in Mind," and an album of the same name was released. Then followed a second 1973 album, Top of the World, whose title track was a No. 2 country hit. It was also a No. 1 pop hit for The Carpenters that same year. However, Anderson's version was the first to be released as a single and become a hit. The second single released from the Top of the World album, "Sing About Love", also peaked at No. 3. In 1974, "What a Man My Man Is" was Anderson's fifth No. 1 country hit. That same year, she also won the American Music Awards' "Favorite Female Country Artist" Award.

Throughout the 1970s, Anderson made frequent guest appearances on many television specials, talk shows and variety shows. Because of her crossover appeal, she often appeared on shows where country artists were not regularly seen. At the height of the show's popularity, she had a starring role in an episode of Starsky & Hutch. She made several appearances on The Tonight Show, and appeared on three Bob Hope television specials. Anderson frequently guest-starred on various Dean Martin television specials. She also hosted her own television special in 1977, with guest star Tina Turner.

Anderson's success slowed down toward the end of the 1970s. She continued making appearances on the country charts every year for the rest of the decade. Anderson hit the Top 20 with two from her "I've Never Loved Anyone More" album in 1975: "He Turns it into Love Again" and the title track. She had a Top 20 hit with "All the King's Horses" in 1976 from an album of the same name. In 1977, "Wrap Your Love All Around Your Man", partly due to its promotion on the television series Starsky & Hutch, became a major hit. In 1979, she had her first Top 10 hit since 1974 with "Isn't It Always Love" from her album Outlaw is Just a State of Mind. The album also produced the Top 20 hit, "I Love How You Love Me" and the Top 40 hit "Sea of Heartbreak". In 1980, she recorded her final album for Columbia, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which featured two Top 30 hits. Following her separation from Columbia she did not record for three years.

1983 – 1989: Commercial resurgence

After three years away from recording, Anderson signed with the Permian Records label in 1983, and had a Top 10 country hit with "You're Welcome to Tonight", a duet with Gary Morris At Permian, she recorded Back, her first studio album since 1980. The album's first single, "You Can't Lose What You Never Had", peaked outside the Top 40, but the second single, "What I've Learned from Loving You", was a Top 20 hit. She left Permian in 1984. In 1986, she recorded "Fools for Each Other", a duet with Ed Bruce, which was included on his Night Things album. The single peaked just outside the Top 40.

That same year, Anderson recorded a single for MCA Records. In 1986, she signed with Mercury Records, which produced one album, What She Does Best, and five singles that were minor hits on the Billboard country chart in the late 1980s. She had two Top 40 hit singles with MCA---"Read Between the Lines" and a cover version of The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk", which hit Top 25 country in 1988. In 1989, Anderson released her last charting single to date with "How Many Hearts", which peaked at No. 69.

1990 – Present: Present music career

In 1990, Anderson starred as singer Betsy Hall in the BBC Scotland TV drama The Wreck on the Highway. She performed the song "Dream On" in the film, which consequently became a minor hit in a BBC collection of country standards. In 1992, she recorded a new studio album titled Cowboy's Sweetheart, released by Laselight Records. Emmylou Harris and Marty Stuart appeared as guest performers on the album. During the same time, the American Rose Society created a hybrid tea rose and named it the "Lynn Anderson" Anderson did not record any studio albums for the rest of the decade and became more focused on touring and performing, as well as non-musical projects. In 1999, she was inducted into the North American Country Music Association's International Hall of Fame.

In 2000, Tennessee governor Don Sundquist made June 15 "Lynn Anderson Day" throughout the state. Anderson produced a TNN special, "American Country Cowboys", which helped handicapped groups also during this time. In 2002, Anderson was ranked at No. 29 on CMT's television special of the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. In 2000, she recorded a live album titled, Live at Billy Bob's Texas. In 2004, she recorded her first studio album in 12 years, The Bluegrass Sessions, a Bluegrass album that consisted of Anderson's major hits from the 1960s and 1970s re-recorded in a Bluegrass format. The album was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2005, along with Ricky Skaggs' album Brand New Strings, Ralph Stanley II's Carrying on, as well as a multi-artist album. In 2005, she performed on the Grand Ole Opry with Country singer, Martina McBride, performing a duet version of "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden".

In June 2007, she performed as part of the CMA's 2007 Music Festival in Nashville. She performed an outdoor concert at the Riverfront Park area, which also included concerts by Aaron Tippin and Jason Michael Carroll. At the festival, Anderson duetted with songwriter and fiance Mentor Williams on his composition, Drift Away, which was first a hit record for Dobie Gray and later Uncle Kracker.

In April 2009, she was part of the concert line-up at the annual Stagecoach Festival in Palm Springs, which also included concerts by Charlie Daniels, Kevin Costner, and Reba McEntire. Throughout 2010 and 2011, she performed a series of concerts backed by the Metropole Symphony Orchestra. Lynn Anderson remains a popular concert attraction, regularly headlining major casinos, performing arts centers, and theaters.

Equestrian career

Outside of her music career, Anderson has also maintained an equestrian horse racing career since the 1960s. As a horsewoman, she has won 16 national, eight world, and several celebrity championships.

Her most recent championships include the National Chevy Truck Cutting Horse Champion in 1999, the American U.S. Open Invitational Champion in 2000,and the National Cutting Horse Association Champion in 1999. Anderson continues to raise horses at her ranch in New Mexico. Anderson has worked with the "Special Riders of Animaland," which is a horseback-riding therapy program for children.

Her sorrel Quarter Horses "Lady Phase" and "Skipster's Chief" were produced as plastic models by Breyer Animal Creations.

Personal life

Lynn Anderson was married to Grammy Award-winning songwriter Glenn Sutton from 1968 to 1977. They had one child together. In 1978, she married Louisiana oilman Harold "Spook" Stream III, with whom she had two children. Stream and Anderson divorced in 1982.

On December 2, 2004, Anderson was charged with driving while intoxicated in Denton, Texas. A driver who was following Anderson called the police after noticing that her car was weaving in and out of lanes. After failing a field sobriety test, Anderson was arrested. She was later released on bond.

On May 3, 2006, Anderson was arrested on a second driving under the influence of alcohol charge following a minor traffic accident near Espanola, New Mexico. According to police, Anderson failed a sobriety test and refused to take a breathalyzer test after her car hit the back of another car. No one was injured in the collision. Anderson was later released on bond.

Lynn Anderson's great grandfather emmigrated to the USA from Norway. She met her family in Norway through the Norwegian TV-series "Tore på sporet".

Anderson currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

Major industry awards and honors

Year	Award Program	Award
1967	Academy of Country Music Award	Top Female Vocalist
1970
1971	Grammy Award	Best Female Country Vocal Performance; "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden"
	Country Music Association Award	Female Vocalist of the Year
1974	American Music Award	Favorite Female Country Artist
1980	Record World	Artist of the Decade: 1970 – 1980
	Billboard
1999	American Country Music Association Hall of Fame	Inductee
2000	State of Tennessee	June 15 - Lynn Anderson Day
2002	CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music	Ranking – No. 29
2007	Academy of Western Artists	Best Western Song
		Best Western Album; Cowgirl
		Best Western Swing Album; Cowgirl
		Best Female Vocalist

Discography

• 1967 - Ride, Ride, Ride
• 1967 - Promises, Promises
• 1968 - Big Girls Don't Cry
• 1969 - At Home With Lynn
• 1969 - With Love From Lynn
• 1969 - Songs That Made Country Girls Famous
• 1970 - I'm Alright
• 1970 - No Love At All
• 1970 - Rose Garden
• 1970 - Stay There 'Til I Get There
• 1970 - Uptown Country Girl
• 1971 - A Woman Lives For Love
• 1971 - How Can I Unlove You
• 1971 - With Strings
• 1971 - You'r My Man
• 1972 - Cry
• 1972 - Here's Lynn Anderson
• 1972 - Listen to a Country Song
• 1973 - Flower of Love
• 1973 - Keep Me In Mind
• 1973 - Top of the World
• 1974 - Smile For Me
• 1975 - I've Never Loved Anyone More
• 1975 - What a Man My Man Is
• 1976 - All the King's Horses
• 1977 - I Love What Love Is Doing to Me
• 1977 - Wrap Your Love All Around Your Man
• 1978 - From the Inside
• 1979 - Outlaw Is Just a State of Mind
• 1980 - Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
• 1983 - Back
• 1987 - Country Girl
• 1988 - What She Does Best
• 1992 - Cowboy's Sweetheart
• 1998 - Latest and Greatest
• 1999 - Home For the Holidays
• 2005 - Cowgirl
• 2010 - Cowgirl II