Tucker, Tanya (10th October 1958-Present)

She is a singer-songwriter born Tanya Denise Tucker in Seminole, Texas to a family where hey moved around a lot for her father’s work, so she spent much of her childhood in Willcox, Arizona. Her sister LaCosta Tucker was also a good singer and that’s when she decided to sing country music as a career.

After the family moved to Utah she was taken to an audition for the film Jeremiah Johnson by her mother and although she didn’t get as big a part as she wanted, she and her horse were taken on as bit players. She was also taken to the Arizona State Fair by her father where she was taken on as a singer by the entertainment managers. She went on to debut with Mel Tillis and after the family had moved to Nevada in 1969 she became a regular performer.

The songwriter Dolores Fuller noticed her after she had made a demo tape and after she had sent the tape to the CBS Records producer Billy Sherrilll she was signed up to Columbia Records while still a teenager. she released the song “Delta Dawn” in 1972 and saw her first success when it reached No. 6 on the country music chart and was a minor success on the pop chart. The song was later taken to No. 1 on the US pop chart when it was recorded by Helen Reddy in 1973. Her next song “Love’s the Answer also reached the Top 10 with the third song “What’s Your Mama’s Name” becoming her first No. 1 hit single, She followed that with “Blood Red and Goin’ Down” and “Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)” both also reached the No. 1 spot.

The hits continued for her after she had moved to MCA Records in 1975 with several hitting the Top 10 during the remainder of the 1970s and “Lizzie and the Rainman” becoming another No. 1 hit. Her album TNT was released in 1978 and caused a bit of controversy due to it’s cover as well as the fact that she moved to into rock music his time. However the album still became gold in 1979 and contained the hit singles “Texas (When I Die)” which reached No. 5 on the Country chart and the B-Side “Not Fade Away” reaching No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100. as well as “I’m the Singer, You’re the Song” which was also a chart hit. Also in 1979 she appeared as a judge on the TV show Dance Fever.

When the 1980s cam around she had a couple of his in 1980 and then began a romantic involvement with the singer Glen Campbell, who she recorded several singles with. She also appeared in the film Hard Country in 1981. She was also battling an alcohol problem but in 1986 she signed up with Capitol Records and had a No. 3 hit with “One Love at a Time”. She also had three No. 1 hits when she released songs from her 1986 album Girls Like Me. She gained eight country chart hits, with albums reaching gold status between 1988 and 1989 and in 1988 was nominated for “Female Vocalist of the Year” by the Country Music Association and released her Greatest Hits album in 1989.

During the 1990s the Country Music Television named her the winner this time of “Female Video Artist of the Year” in 1990 and the Country Music Association awarded her “Female Vocalist of the Year” in 1991, even though she hadn’t gained any No. 1 hits during the 1990s but several consecutive singles in the Top 10. She released her Greatest Hits 1990-1992 which reached No. 15 on the album chart and No. 19 on the Top Country Albums chart. Her final Top 5 hit was “Hangin’ In” in 1994 and that same year she performed at the Super Bowl XXVIII half-time show. In 1996 she made the list of the Top 10 most-played artists and in 1997 was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and had a No.9 hit with “Little Things”. Also in 1997 she published her autobiography Nickel Dreams: My Life.

Into the new millennium and was the founder of Tuckertime Records and released the album Tanya in 2002. That same year she was given the rank of No 20 of the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music by CMT. In 2005 she released her book 101 Ways to Beat the Blues on Fireside and recorded two songs for the A Tribute to Bob Wills 100th Anniversary album. Alsoin 2005 she starred in her reality show Tuckerville. Two years later in 2007 she recorded the unreleased to date album Lonesome Town and recorded the song “Played the Game Too Long” with Billy Joe Shaver which he released on his Everybody’s Brother. In 2009 she released the cover album My Turn and reached No. 27 on the Billboard country charts.

During the 2010s she was named as one of the 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time by Rolling Stone in 2017 and released the song “Forever Loving You” to mixed reactions following the death of Glen Campbell that same year. In 2019 she released the album While I’m Livin’, produced by Brandi Carlisle and Shooter Jennings, which was her first album of original songs for 17 years and that same year she launched her own brand of tequila called Cosa Salvaje.

In the 2020s her “Bring My Flowers Now” and the album While I’m Livin’ both won Grammy Awards in 2020 and that same year she released the album Live from the Troubadour. In 2023 her Sweet Western Sound was released with the single “Kindness” and she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

She has been classified as an “Outlaw” artist from the 1970s and was listed as the only woman with a ranking of No.9 on the CMT Greatest Outlaws: The Dirty Dozen at one time.

Recordings by other artists she has performed on as a singer and/or composer include Snowblind Friend by Hoyt Axton, Angels & Outlaws Vol. 1 by The Bellamy Brothers, Bish by Stephen Bishop, It’s the World Gone Crazy by Glen Campbell, Sweet Life: His Greatest Hit Singles by Paul Davis, Blue Kentucky Girl by Emmylou Harris, 50th Anniversary Tribute Concert by George Jones, What’s New Pussycat? by Tom Jones, Still Woman Enough by Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and Friends by Willie Nelson, Slow Dancing with the Moon by Dolly Parton, The King Collection by Elvis Presley, Takin’ It Easy by Seals & Crofts. Duets by Frank Sinatra, T-r-o-u-b-l-e by Travis Tritt, and The Bocephus Box by Hank Williams Jr. along with numerous compilations and collections.

Glen Campbell recordings
Hollywood Smiles (Larry Weiss)
Capitol Records 1A 006 86273

Sources:

Tucker, Tanya (10th October 1958-Present)

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