page_title: Kitty Wells
section_title: 1953–1969: Career peak
hierarchical_section_title: Kitty Wells / Biography / Music career / 1953–1969: Career peak
caption_attribution_description: Ad featuring Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright from Decca Records from Billboard magazine. This ad marks the first time the two, who were husband and wife, recorded together.
context_page_description: Ellen Muriel Deason, known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", which also made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts and turned her into the first female country superstar. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” would also be her first of several pop crossover hits. Wells is the only artist to be awarded top female vocalist awards for 14 consecutive years. Her chart-topping hits continued until the mid 1960s, paving the way for and inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.
  Wells ranks as the sixth most successful female vocalist in the history of the Billboard country charts, according to historian Joel Whitburn's book The Top 40 Country Hits. In 1976, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1991, she became the third country music artist, after Roy Acuff and Hank Williams, and the eighth woman to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
context_section_description: "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was followed by "Paying For That Back Street Affair", a response to Webb Pierce's "Back Street Affair". The single reached No. 6 in the spring of 1953, helping to establish a lasting place at the top of the charts for Wells. Between 1953 and 1955, she was popular on the country charts and was the only female solo artist at the time to be able to maintain her success. In 1953, Wells had two Top 10 hits with "Hey Joe" and "Cheatin's A Sin".
  The next year, Wells partnered with country star Red Foley for the duet "One By One", which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and became her second chart-topper. The song led to a string of hit singles from the duo within the next two decades, including 1954's "As Long as I Live", which peaked at No. 3. As a solo artist in 1954, Wells had two major hits with the No. 8 "Release Me" and the Top 15 hit "Thou Shalt Not Steal" (written by Don Everly of the Everly Brothers).
  Record companies were reluctant to issue albums by country's female artists until Wells proved that women could sell. She became the first female country singer to issue an LP, starting with 1956's Kitty Wells' Country Hit Parade, which consisted of her biggest hits. She released her first studio album in 1957 with Winner of Your Heart. Soon other female country singers released LPs in the late 1950s and early 1960s."Making Believe" and "Lonely Side of Town" became chart-toppers
  for Wells, however not on Billboard magazine. Wells' later 1950s releases included "Searching (For Someone Like You)", "I Can't Stop Loving You", and "Amigo's Guitar", which she wrote with John D. Loudermilk.
  In 1957, Wells issued Winner of Your Heart. This was followed by a string of LPs released by Decca Records between 1957 and 1973. She also partnered with Webb Pierce the same year for two duet singles, including the Top 10 hit "Oh So Many Years". The duo didn't record together again until 1964 with the Top 10 hit "Finally". In 1959, Wells had two Top 5 hits with "Amigo's Guitar" and "Mommy For A Day". Wells was later awarded a BMI award for writing "Amigo's Guitar." Although not known much for her songwriting, Wells has won two BMI awards, including one for "Amigo's Guitar". She has published more than 60 songs.
  She continued to put much of herself into her songs throughout her career, inspiring other female country singers to record risky material as well. Loretta Lynn was one of her followers in this sense when she recorded "Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)" in 1967. Dolly Parton's 1968 recording "Just Because I'm a Woman", like "Honky Tonk Angels", questioned the male-female double standard.
  Wells entered the 1960s on top with songs like "Heartbreak U.S.A." and "Day into Night".
  "Heartbreak USA" peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and became her third and final No. 1 hit. The follow-up, "Day Into Night", was a Top 10 hit the same year. Owen Bradley continues as Wells' producer in the 1960s. Bradley produced some of the biggest-selling country crossover singers of the time period. The well-known Nashville Sound vocal group The Jordanaires can be heard backing Wells on her big country hit from 1961 "Heartbreak USA".
  In the early '60s she continued to have Top 10 hits frequently.
  
  In 1962, Wells had three Top 10 hits with "Will Your Lawyer Talk to God", "Unloved Wanted", and "We Missed You". Beginning in 1964, Wells' albums began to chart the Top Country Albums chart, starting with the LP Especially for You. Some of Wells' albums peaked within the Top 10 on that chart. That same year, her singles began to return to the Top 10 with "This White Circle on My Finger" and "Password", both of which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Country Chart. In 1965, Wells had her last Top 10 hit with "Meanwhile, Down At Joe's" and in 1966, Wells then had her final Top 20 hit with "It's All Over But the Crying", which peaked at No. 14 on the country charts.
  During the late 1960s and 1970s, she managed to have a string of minor hits and remained a popular concert attraction. 
caption: Ad featuring Kitty Wells and husband Johnnie Wright's first joint album, We'll Stick Together
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