“I Never Once Stopped Loving You” (peak position 5, 1970) “You and Your Sweet Love” (peak position 6, 1969) “Run Away Little Tears” (peak position 10, 1968) “Baby’s Back Again” (peak position 7, 1968) “I’ll Come Runnin’” (peak position 10, 1967) “Burning a Hole in My Mind” (peak position 5, 1967) “Cincinnati, Ohio” (peak position 4, 1967) “Nobody But a Fool (Would Love You)” (peak position 4, 1966) “The Hurtin’s All Over” (peak position 3, 1966) “Ain’t Had No Lovin’” (peak position 2, 1966) “I Can’t Remember” (peak position 9, 1965) “Then and Only Then” (peak position 4, 1965) “If I Talk to Him” (peak position 4, 1965) Ironically, it would be Connie Smith’s last number-one song.Īlthough never again reaching the top of the charts, Smith had a total of 19 more top-ten hits from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. It stayed at the number-one position for eight weeks and was eventually nominated for a Grammy Award. The song made country music history as the first debut by a female singer to chart at the top spot. Smith scored a number-one hit in late 1964 with her first released single-“Once a Day,” which was written by Bill Anderson. In June 1964, guitarist and music executive Chet Atkins signed her to a recording contract at RCA Records. During that show and during a show a few months later in Canton, Ohio, Opry singer Bill Anderson was so impressed with her that he invited her to come to Nashville and record some demos. She sang at local events as well as on regional television programs, even after becoming a young housewife and mother in the early 1960s.Īs part of winning a talent competition in August 1963, she won the chance to perform with stars from the Grand Ole Opry at a show in Columbus, Ohio. While growing up, she developed a great love of music-not only of such country singers as Kitty Wells and Jean Shepard, but also of the renowned jazz stylists Sarah Vaughn and Nancy Wilson. Despite the financial struggles of her family, she applied herself at school and graduated as salutatorian of her high-school class. Connie grew up in West Virginia and Ohio in a large family of 14 brothers and sisters. When Connie was a little girl, her mother divorced her abusive father and remarried. This influence, as well as her artistic accomplishments, were recognized with her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012.Ĭonstance June Meador was born in Elkhart, Indiana, on August 14, 1941. She has been influencing other artists since launching her own recording career in Nashville in the early 1960s. Smith continues to perform with the Grand Ole Opry and remains a country icon.A great image of the beautiful Connie Smith taken in the early 60’s.Ĭonnie Smith is a singer’s singer-a veteran country music performer whose distinctive phrasing, wide range, and powerful delivery are widely admired by fellow performers ranging from Dolly Parton to Merle Haggard to Keith Richards. The project, recorded at historic RCA Studio B, was produced by Smith’s husband, Marty Stuart. She recorded an album that was released in August of 2011 to celebrate her 70th birthday. Subsequent hits included “You and Your Sweet Love,” “I Never Once Stopped Loving You,” “Just One Time,” “Just What I Am,” “If It Ain’t Love (Let’s Leave It Alone),” and “Love is the Look You’re Looking For.” Her string of hits continued until 1968 with “Then and Only Then,” “If I Talk to Him,” “Ain’t Had No Lovin’,” and “The Hurtin’s All Over.”Īfter working non-stop on the road, in films, and on The Lawrence Welk Show, Smith changed courses, devoting herself to family and religion. Often compared to Patsy Cline, she is still considered by many to be one of the best and most underrated vocalists in country history. 1 on Billboard’s Country Music charts, the longest of any female country music artist in history. A country singer and Grand Ole Opry member, Connie Smith may be best known for her 1964 hit song “Once a Day” – written especially for her by country star Bill Anderson – which spent eight weeks at No.
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