About Crystal Gayle
Brenda Gail Webb , known professionally as Crystal Gayle, is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same as that of her oldest sister, Loretta Lynn. Not finding success with the arrangement after several years, and with Lynn's encouragement, Gayle decided to try a different approach. She signed a new record contract and began recording with Nashville producer Allen Reynolds. Gayle's new sound was sometimes referred to as middle-of-the-road or country pop, and was part of a bigger musical trend by many country artists of the 1970s to appeal to a wider audience. Subsequently, Gayle became one of the most successful crossover artists of the 1970s and 80s. She is known for her floor-length hair.
Gayle was said to have begun her career in the 1960s performing as a background singer in Lynn's band . Lynn helped her sign a recording contract with Decca Records in 1970. Having minor success, she was encouraged to develop her own musical identity. Under the direction of producer Reynolds at United Artists Records, Gayle shifted towards a country pop style that was more successful. In 1975, "Wrong Road Again" became Gayle's first major hit. However, it was in 1977 when Gayle achieved her biggest success with "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". The single topped the Billboard country chart, crossed over to the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 and became a major international hit.
Gayle continued having success from the late 1970s and through late 1980s. Her biggest hits included "Ready for the Times to Get Better" , "Talking in Your Sleep" , "Half the Way" and "You and I" . In the 1990s, Gayle shifted artistic directions by recording various genres of music. This included an album of inspirational music titled Someday and an album of standards called Crystal Gayle Sings the Heart and Soul of Hoagy Carmichael . During the decade she also owned and operated a fine arts shop called Crystal's Fine Gifts and Jewelry. Her most recent studio release was in 2019 and Gayle has since continued to tour throughout the world.
Gayle has won one Grammy Award and has been nominated for several others since the 1970s. She has also won five Academy of Country Music awards; those awards include receiving the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award in 2016. In addition, she has won two Country Music Association awards and three American Music Awards. Rolling Stone ranked her among the 100 greatest country artists of all time and CMT ranked her within their list of the 40 greatest women of country music. Gayle has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2017.
Gayle was born Brenda Gail Webb in Paintsville, Kentucky on January 9, 1951. She was the last of eight children born to Clara Marie "Clary" and Melvin Theodore "Ted" Webb . Unlike her sister Loretta and her other siblings, Gayle was the only child born at the Paintsville hospital, and not at home. Through her matriline, Gayle is a distant cousin of singer Patty Loveless. Gayle and her siblings claim Irish and Cherokee descent, although she is not enrolled with any Native tribe. Gayle's father was a coal miner who developed black lung disease. In search of better medical treatment, the family moved to Wabash, Indiana, when Gayle was four years old. They lived in a retired miner's community and Clara Webb worked as a nurse's aide. Ted Webb died from a stroke in 1959. From early age, Gayle had an interest in singing. She noted that she could sing before she could walk. The family's new home in Wabash was in an urban setting. She was exposed to diverse cultural groups and norms and in turn to various styles of music. She sang along frequently to songs she heard on the radio and was inspired by the music of her sister Loretta Lynn.
Gayle's musical interests were shaped further in her teenage years. She started singing in church, performed folk songs, and recorded demonstration tapes. With encouragement from Lynn, she began touring during summers in high school. At age 16, Gayle performed on the Grand Ole Opry in replacement of her sister who had gotten ill. She performed a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Ribbon of Darkness". After graduating from high school in 1970, she signed her first recording contract with her sister's label: Decca Records. Upon signing with Decca, the label insisted that Gayle change her first name from "Brenda" to another name. The conflict was due to the fact that Brenda Lee was already signed to Decca at the time. Shortly thereafter, Lynn drove past a sign for the Krystal fast-food restaurant and said to Gayle, "That's your name. Crystals are bright and shiny, like you." It was then that she changed her name professionally to "Crystal Gayle", with "Gayle" taken from her middle name .
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