Crystal Gayle
Encyclopedia
Crystal Gayle is an American
country music
singer best known for her 1977 country-pop hit, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
". An award-winning singer, she accumulated 18 number one country hits during the 1970s and 1980s. She is also famous for her nearly floor-length hair and was voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world in 1983. She is the younger sister of singer Loretta Lynn
(16 years younger) and a distant cousin of singer Patty Loveless
. Crystal Gayle has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
, near Loretta Lynn's star.
to Melvin "Ted" Webb (1906–1959) and Clara Marie (Ramey) Webb (1912–1981). Born to a poor family, the youngest of eight children, she was the only one born in a hospital. Her family moved north to Wabash, Indiana
when she was four. She started singing along with country and pop songs on the radio, and though shy as a child, she was encouraged by her mother to sing for visitors to the house. Inspired by her sister Loretta Lynn's performance she decided to learn guitar and sing backup in her brothers' folk band. While she was still in high school, Webb began to tour with Loretta Lynn for a few weeks each summer.
After graduating from Wabash High School, Brenda Gail Webb signed on with Decca Records, her sister's record label. However, since there was already a star named "Brenda Lee
" with Decca Records, Decca asked Webb to change her first name. It was her older sister Loretta Lynn who suggested the name 'Crystal' for her singing career (after noticing a sign for the Krystal
hamburger restaurant chain). So Brenda Gail Webb took the stage name
'Crystal Gayle'.
and performed in a style very similar to her sister's. Decca pushed for more records styled like Lynn's with Lynn actually writing more of her early singles. Unfortunately, this approach failed to establish Gayle in her own right despite regular appearances on Jim Ed Brown
's television show The Country Place. She did not return to the Country Top 40 until 1974's "Restless" (No. 39).
Frustrated, she parted ways with Decca and signed with United Artists
in 1974 where she teamed with producer Allen Reynolds
. Reynolds offered Gayle the creative freedom she wanted helping her develop her own distinctive style and phrasing. Her first album, Crystal Gayle
, was released in 1974 yielding her first Top Ten country hit, "Wrong Road Again
" (No. 6). By 1976, Gayle achieved the first of her 18 Number One country singles, "I'll Get Over You", which also became her first single to reach Billboard's Hot 100 (No. 71) and Adult Contemporary chart (No. 40). She scored two more Top 2 country hits, "You Never Miss A Real Good Thing (Till He Says Goodbye)" (No. 1) and "I'll Do It All Over Again" (No. 2), in 1977 before achieving the greatest success of her career. Crystal Gayle later recalled what her sister Loretta Lynn said, ‘You record what I couldn't record – you do MOR, middle of the road, "and that was the best advice I could get. I don't think I ever would have made it if I went down the road and did the music my sister did. I would only have been compared to her."
". The song became the most successful of Gayle's career spending four weeks atop the country chart. The song became her biggest hit on the Hot 100 (No. 2), peaked at No. 4 AC and gained considerable airplay worldwide. Gayle earned a Grammy award
for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the song also earned a Grammy as Country Song of the Year for its writer, Richard Leigh. The song helped her album, We Must Believe in Magic
, become the first by a female country artist to be certified platinum. She toured worldwide, including Britain with Kenny Rogers
and China with Bob Hope
, where she became the first person to tape a performance on the Great Wall of China
.
After the success of "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
", Gayle and her record producers leaned more toward crossover music with each new release. For the next ten years, she would have her greatest success. Gayle was awarded "Female Vocalist of the Year" for two years by the Country Music Association Awards
(1977 and 1978) and for three years by the Academy of Country Music
(1976 – 1977 and 1979).
Gayle remade a previously recorded track from her Crystal album, Ready For The Times To Get Better, as her first single after "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
". Although the single became her fourth No. 1 Country hit, it failed to reach the Pop Top 40 (No. 52). Gayle's next album, When I Dream, yielded three Top 3 Country hits – the No. 1 songs "Talking in Your Sleep
" and "Why Have You Left The One You Left Me For" as well as the No. 3 title track. "Talking In Your Sleep" returned Gayle to the Pop Top 20 (No. 18). Gayle left United Artists
for Columbia Records
in 1979 for her next album, Miss The Mississippi. She returned again to the Pop Top 20 with that album's first single, "Half The Way
" (No. 15 Pop, No. 2 Country, No. 9 AC) which became her last solo Top 20 Pop hit. Gayle had also appeared in the second episode of the fourth season of The Muppet Show
.
Gayle started the 1980s with another No. 1 country hit, "It's Like We Never Said Goodbye" (No. 63 Pop, No. 17 AC). This song led a historic Top 5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart on which the Top 5 positions were all held by women:
When her 1980 song "If You Ever Change Your Mind" was Grammy-nominated in the Best Country Vocal Performance category, the singer found herself competing in the same category with Sissy Spacek who was nominated for title song from Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), the acclaimed biopic in which Spacek portrayed Gayle's real-life sister Loretta Lynn. Gayle's next album, Hollywood, Tennessee, was her most blatant attempt at country crossover. The album's A-side, "Hollywood", was pop while the album's B-side, "Tennessee", was country. The album's three singles all reached the Country Top 10, but only the first single, "The Woman In Me," reached the Hot 100 (No. 76). Gayle's singles, however, frequently charted Top 20 on the AC chart throughout the 1980s.
In 1982, Gayle worked on the Francis Ford Coppola
film, One from the Heart
, recording songs for the movie's soundtrack with Tom Waits
. She then switched record labels again to Elektra Records
. She recorded a duet, "You And I", with Elektra labelmate Eddie Rabbitt
for his Radio Romance album. The duet quickly ascended to No. 1 on the Country charts, returned Gayle to the Pop Top 10 (No. 7) and became her biggest AC hit ever (No. 2). Her first Elektra album, True Love
, surprisingly excluded this duet. It did produce three more No. 1 country hits – "Til I Gain Control Again," "Our Love Is On The Faultline" (No. 23 AC) and "Baby, What About You" (No. 83 Pop, No. 9 AC).
After Elektra Records was folded into Warner Bros. Records
in 1983, Gayle released her next album, Cage The Songbird, which spawned two more No. 1 Country hits – "The Sound Of Goodbye" and "Turning Away" – and two other Top 5 Country hits – "I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love" (No. 2) and "Me Against The Night" (No. 4). "The Sound Of Goodbye" became her final entry on the Hot 100 (No. 84) and Top 10 AC hit (No. 10) to date. In 1985, she released her next album, Nobody Wants To Be Alone, which contained two Top 5 Country hits – the title track (No. 3) and "A Long And Lasting Love" (No. 5). Later that year, she teamed with Gary Morris to record a duet for the soundtrack to the Dallas television series. The song, "Makin' Up For Lost Time (The Dallas Lovers' Song)," reached No. 1 Country, but became Gayle's last AC chart appearance (No. 36) to date.
Her 1986 album, Straight To The Heart, began promisingly with two more No. 1 Country singles – "Cry" (a remake of the Johnnie Ray
classic) and the title track. These songs, however, would become the last of Gayle's 18 No. 1 Country singles. She reunited with Gary Morris in 1987 to record the album, What If We Fall In Love, which would yield another theme from a television soap opera, Another World (No. 4). Gayle guest-starred on the show as herself, a friend of the character Felicia Gallant
, who was menaced by a serial killer known as the "Sin Stalker." Gayle and Morris performed the theme at the Daytime Emmy Awards and the song was used as the show's theme until March 1996.
"Another World" became Gayle's last Top 10 Country hit to date. As traditional Country singers such as Randy Travis
and the Judds
began to dominate the country airwaves in the late 1980s, the success of crossover artists like Gayle began to wane. Gayle's last charted single was 1990's "Never Ending Song Of Love" (No. 72).
(1990) produced by Allen Reynolds and Three Good Reasons (1992). Both albums failed to chart and their singles all failed to reestablish Gayle at country radio. Gayle subsequently recorded several specialty projects. She released two gospel albums – Someday (1995) and He Is Beautiful
(1997). In 1999, she released the tribute album, Crystal Gayle Sings The Heart And Soul Of Hoagy Carmichael
. Gayle released a children's album, In My Arms, in 2000. Her most recent studio album was the 2003 standards collection, All My Tomorrows
. Gayle has since released two live albums, Crystal Gayle In Concert
(2005) and Live! An Evening With Crystal Gayle
(2007).
In the early years of the new millennium, Gayle co-wrote and recorded "Midnight in the Desert", a haunting Southwestern song for late-night radio host Art Bell.
In January 2007, Gayle became involved in the hunt for fugitive Christopher Daniel Gay
. Gay escaped from custody at an Interstate 95
welcome center near Hardeeville, South Carolina
, and made his way to Tennessee where he stole Gayle's tour bus. Gay drove the bus from Whites Creek, Tennessee
, to the Daytona International Speedway
in Daytona Beach, Florida
, parking the bus in a VIP spot next to NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Jeff Gordon
. Gay was arrested the following day and the bus was returned to Gayle.
Gayle was ranked No. 33 in a 2002 CMT countdown of the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. She was awarded "Best Female Entertainer" in 2007 by the Second Annual American Entertainment Magazine Reader's Choice Awards as she continues to regularly tour the globe. In February 2008, Crystal was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. On October 2, 2009, Gayle received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
during a ceremony in Hollywood, California.
Gayle married her high school sweetheart, Bill Gatzimos, shortly after graduating from high school. The couple have two children, Catherine and Chris, and one grandson, Elijah. Gayle's family resides in Nashville, Tennessee
where she had her own specialty store, "Crystal's for Fine Gifts and Jewelry", which closed in August 2008. Crystal Gayle is still singing and touring and is working on a couple of different projects with her son, Chris, a recent graduate of Belmont University's acclaimed music engineering program.
American Music Awards
Academy Of Country Music Awards
Cherokee Medal Of Honor
Crystal Gayle Day
Country Music Association Awards
Grammy Awards
Hollywood Walk Of Fame
Kentucky Music Hall Of Fame
Music City News
Native American Hall Of Fame
People Magazine
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer best known for her 1977 country-pop hit, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" is a popular country-pop music song by Crystal Gayle , younger sister of Loretta Lynn. The song was written by Richard Leigh and first appeared on Gayle's 1977 album, We Must Believe in Magic....
". An award-winning singer, she accumulated 18 number one country hits during the 1970s and 1980s. She is also famous for her nearly floor-length hair and was voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world in 1983. She is the younger sister of singer Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
(16 years younger) and a distant cousin of singer Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...
. Crystal Gayle has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, near Loretta Lynn's star.
Biography and career
Brenda Gail Webb was born in (Butcher Holler) Paintsville, KentuckyPaintsville, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 4,132 people, 1,681 households, and 1,079 families residing in the city. The population density was 786.1 people per square mile . There were 1,901 housing units at an average density of 361.7 per square mile...
to Melvin "Ted" Webb (1906–1959) and Clara Marie (Ramey) Webb (1912–1981). Born to a poor family, the youngest of eight children, she was the only one born in a hospital. Her family moved north to Wabash, Indiana
Wabash, Indiana
Wabash is a city in Noble Township, Wabash County, Indiana, United States. The population was 10,666 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Wabash County....
when she was four. She started singing along with country and pop songs on the radio, and though shy as a child, she was encouraged by her mother to sing for visitors to the house. Inspired by her sister Loretta Lynn's performance she decided to learn guitar and sing backup in her brothers' folk band. While she was still in high school, Webb began to tour with Loretta Lynn for a few weeks each summer.
After graduating from Wabash High School, Brenda Gail Webb signed on with Decca Records, her sister's record label. However, since there was already a star named "Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
" with Decca Records, Decca asked Webb to change her first name. It was her older sister Loretta Lynn who suggested the name 'Crystal' for her singing career (after noticing a sign for the Krystal
Krystal (restaurant)
Krystal is an American fast food restaurant chain known for their small, square hamburger sliders with steamed-in onions and 24/7 business hours. Krystal is often described as the Southern equivalent of the Midwest American hamburger chain White Castle...
hamburger restaurant chain). So Brenda Gail Webb took the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
'Crystal Gayle'.
1970–1977: Country beginnings
Gayle's debut single, "I've Cried (The Blue Right Out of My Eyes)", was released in 1970 peaking at No. 23 on Billboard's Country singles chart. The song was written by Loretta LynnLoretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
and performed in a style very similar to her sister's. Decca pushed for more records styled like Lynn's with Lynn actually writing more of her early singles. Unfortunately, this approach failed to establish Gayle in her own right despite regular appearances on Jim Ed Brown
Jim Ed Brown
Jim Ed Brown is an American country music singer who achieved fame in the 1950s with his two sisters as a member of The Browns. He later had a successful solo career from 1965 to 1974, followed by a string of major duet hits with Helen Cornelius through 1981...
's television show The Country Place. She did not return to the Country Top 40 until 1974's "Restless" (No. 39).
Frustrated, she parted ways with Decca and signed with United Artists
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
in 1974 where she teamed with producer Allen Reynolds
Allen Reynolds
Allen Reynolds is an American record producer and songwriter who works primarily in the country music field.Reynolds was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas and started writing songs during his college years...
. Reynolds offered Gayle the creative freedom she wanted helping her develop her own distinctive style and phrasing. Her first album, Crystal Gayle
Crystal Gayle (album)
Crystal Gayle is the eponymous debut album by Crystal Gayle, although she had previously recorded material which was not released until later. The album peaked at #25 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and included three charting Hot Country Singles: "Wrong Road Again" at #6, "Beyond You" at...
, was released in 1974 yielding her first Top Ten country hit, "Wrong Road Again
Wrong Road Again
"Wrong Road Again" is a country song written by songwriter Richard Leigh and was Crystal Gayle's first hit song. It was released in September 1974....
" (No. 6). By 1976, Gayle achieved the first of her 18 Number One country singles, "I'll Get Over You", which also became her first single to reach Billboard's Hot 100 (No. 71) and Adult Contemporary chart (No. 40). She scored two more Top 2 country hits, "You Never Miss A Real Good Thing (Till He Says Goodbye)" (No. 1) and "I'll Do It All Over Again" (No. 2), in 1977 before achieving the greatest success of her career. Crystal Gayle later recalled what her sister Loretta Lynn said, ‘You record what I couldn't record – you do MOR, middle of the road, "and that was the best advice I could get. I don't think I ever would have made it if I went down the road and did the music my sister did. I would only have been compared to her."
1977–1989: Crossover
Believing Gayle was poised for a larger breakthrough, Reynolds encouraged her to record the jazz-flavored ballad, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes BlueDon't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" is a popular country-pop music song by Crystal Gayle , younger sister of Loretta Lynn. The song was written by Richard Leigh and first appeared on Gayle's 1977 album, We Must Believe in Magic....
". The song became the most successful of Gayle's career spending four weeks atop the country chart. The song became her biggest hit on the Hot 100 (No. 2), peaked at No. 4 AC and gained considerable airplay worldwide. Gayle earned a Grammy award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the song also earned a Grammy as Country Song of the Year for its writer, Richard Leigh. The song helped her album, We Must Believe in Magic
We Must Believe in Magic
We Must Believe In Magic is the fourth studio album by the American country music singer Crystal Gayle. Released in 1977, it became Gayle highest selling album, reaching #2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and #12 on the main Billboard album chart...
, become the first by a female country artist to be certified platinum. She toured worldwide, including Britain with Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
and China with Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, where she became the first person to tape a performance on the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
.
After the success of "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" is a popular country-pop music song by Crystal Gayle , younger sister of Loretta Lynn. The song was written by Richard Leigh and first appeared on Gayle's 1977 album, We Must Believe in Magic....
", Gayle and her record producers leaned more toward crossover music with each new release. For the next ten years, she would have her greatest success. Gayle was awarded "Female Vocalist of the Year" for two years by the Country Music Association Awards
Country Music Association Awards
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
(1977 and 1978) and for three years by the Academy of Country Music
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
(1976 – 1977 and 1979).
Gayle remade a previously recorded track from her Crystal album, Ready For The Times To Get Better, as her first single after "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" is a popular country-pop music song by Crystal Gayle , younger sister of Loretta Lynn. The song was written by Richard Leigh and first appeared on Gayle's 1977 album, We Must Believe in Magic....
". Although the single became her fourth No. 1 Country hit, it failed to reach the Pop Top 40 (No. 52). Gayle's next album, When I Dream, yielded three Top 3 Country hits – the No. 1 songs "Talking in Your Sleep
Talking in Your Sleep (Crystal Gayle song)
"Talking in Your Sleep" is a song written by Roger Cook and Bobby Wood, that was the second single released by Country-Pop crossover singer, Crystal Gayle, to become a hit on both the country and pop charts. It was a hit in 1978...
" and "Why Have You Left The One You Left Me For" as well as the No. 3 title track. "Talking In Your Sleep" returned Gayle to the Pop Top 20 (No. 18). Gayle left United Artists
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1979 for her next album, Miss The Mississippi. She returned again to the Pop Top 20 with that album's first single, "Half The Way
Half The Way
"Half the Way" is the name of Country-Pop crossover single, Crystal Gayle's third crossover Pop hit, released in 1979.After recently achieving major Country crossover success in 1977 with "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue." , followed by a Top 20 Pop hit and No...
" (No. 15 Pop, No. 2 Country, No. 9 AC) which became her last solo Top 20 Pop hit. Gayle had also appeared in the second episode of the fourth season of The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
.
Gayle started the 1980s with another No. 1 country hit, "It's Like We Never Said Goodbye" (No. 63 Pop, No. 17 AC). This song led a historic Top 5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart on which the Top 5 positions were all held by women:
When her 1980 song "If You Ever Change Your Mind" was Grammy-nominated in the Best Country Vocal Performance category, the singer found herself competing in the same category with Sissy Spacek who was nominated for title song from Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), the acclaimed biopic in which Spacek portrayed Gayle's real-life sister Loretta Lynn. Gayle's next album, Hollywood, Tennessee, was her most blatant attempt at country crossover. The album's A-side, "Hollywood", was pop while the album's B-side, "Tennessee", was country. The album's three singles all reached the Country Top 10, but only the first single, "The Woman In Me," reached the Hot 100 (No. 76). Gayle's singles, however, frequently charted Top 20 on the AC chart throughout the 1980s.
In 1982, Gayle worked on the Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
film, One from the Heart
One from the Heart
One from the Heart is a 1982 musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The characters themselves do not actually sing but the powerful score dominates the movie. It is set entirely in Las Vegas, on the Las Vegas Strip and the desert surrounding the city...
, recording songs for the movie's soundtrack with Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
. She then switched record labels again to Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
. She recorded a duet, "You And I", with Elektra labelmate Eddie Rabbitt
Eddie Rabbitt
Edward Thomas "Eddie" Rabbitt was an American singer-songwriter and musician. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974...
for his Radio Romance album. The duet quickly ascended to No. 1 on the Country charts, returned Gayle to the Pop Top 10 (No. 7) and became her biggest AC hit ever (No. 2). Her first Elektra album, True Love
True Love (Crystal Gayle album)
True Love is an album by the American country music singer Crystal Gayle. Released in 1982, it peaked at #14 on the Billboard Country Albums charts....
, surprisingly excluded this duet. It did produce three more No. 1 country hits – "Til I Gain Control Again," "Our Love Is On The Faultline" (No. 23 AC) and "Baby, What About You" (No. 83 Pop, No. 9 AC).
After Elektra Records was folded into Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
in 1983, Gayle released her next album, Cage The Songbird, which spawned two more No. 1 Country hits – "The Sound Of Goodbye" and "Turning Away" – and two other Top 5 Country hits – "I Don't Wanna Lose Your Love" (No. 2) and "Me Against The Night" (No. 4). "The Sound Of Goodbye" became her final entry on the Hot 100 (No. 84) and Top 10 AC hit (No. 10) to date. In 1985, she released her next album, Nobody Wants To Be Alone, which contained two Top 5 Country hits – the title track (No. 3) and "A Long And Lasting Love" (No. 5). Later that year, she teamed with Gary Morris to record a duet for the soundtrack to the Dallas television series. The song, "Makin' Up For Lost Time (The Dallas Lovers' Song)," reached No. 1 Country, but became Gayle's last AC chart appearance (No. 36) to date.
Her 1986 album, Straight To The Heart, began promisingly with two more No. 1 Country singles – "Cry" (a remake of the Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
classic) and the title track. These songs, however, would become the last of Gayle's 18 No. 1 Country singles. She reunited with Gary Morris in 1987 to record the album, What If We Fall In Love, which would yield another theme from a television soap opera, Another World (No. 4). Gayle guest-starred on the show as herself, a friend of the character Felicia Gallant
Felicia Gallant
Felicia Gallant is a fictional character on the NBC soap opera Another World. The character is a professional romance novelist who lives in Bay City....
, who was menaced by a serial killer known as the "Sin Stalker." Gayle and Morris performed the theme at the Daytime Emmy Awards and the song was used as the show's theme until March 1996.
"Another World" became Gayle's last Top 10 Country hit to date. As traditional Country singers such as Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
and the Judds
The Judds
The Judds were an American country music duo composed of Naomi Judd and her daughter, Wynonna Judd. Signed to RCA Records in 1983, the duo released six studio albums between then and 1991. One of the most successful acts in country music history, The Judds won five Grammy Awards for Best Country...
began to dominate the country airwaves in the late 1980s, the success of crossover artists like Gayle began to wane. Gayle's last charted single was 1990's "Never Ending Song Of Love" (No. 72).
1990–present: Later career
Gayle released two more studio albums during the 1990s: Ain't Gonna WorryAin't Gonna Worry
Ain't Gonna Worry is an album by the American country music singer Crystal Gayle. Released in 1990, it marked the end of her run of Billboard album chart appearances...
(1990) produced by Allen Reynolds and Three Good Reasons (1992). Both albums failed to chart and their singles all failed to reestablish Gayle at country radio. Gayle subsequently recorded several specialty projects. She released two gospel albums – Someday (1995) and He Is Beautiful
He Is Beautiful
He Is Beautiful is Crystal Gayle’s second Gospel music album. The first was Someday.-Track listing:#"Give Me That Old Time Religion” – 3:18#"Amazing Grace” – 3:00...
(1997). In 1999, she released the tribute album, Crystal Gayle Sings The Heart And Soul Of Hoagy Carmichael
Crystal Gayle Sings the Heart and Soul of Hoagy Carmichael
Crystal Gayle Sings The Heart & Soul Of Hoagy Carmichael is Crystal Gayle’s tribute to the songwriter Hoagy Carmichael.-Track listing:#"Heart And Soul” – 3:14#"Stardust” – 3:34...
. Gayle released a children's album, In My Arms, in 2000. Her most recent studio album was the 2003 standards collection, All My Tomorrows
All My Tomorrows
All My Tomorrows is an album by the American country music singer Crystal Gayle. Released in 2003, it was Gayle first studio album of mainstream songs in several years ....
. Gayle has since released two live albums, Crystal Gayle In Concert
Crystal Gayle in Concert
Crystal Gayle in Concert is the name of a live album and DVD by Crystal Gayle from one of concerts, released in 2005.This was one of Crystal Gayle's first live albums. It was filmed during her HBO concert, and was released as a DVD and CD, as a package from White Star records...
(2005) and Live! An Evening With Crystal Gayle
Live! An Evening with Crystal Gayle
Live! An Evening With Crystal Gayle is the name of a live album/DVD of Crystal Gayle, released in 2006.This is also one of Gayle's first live albums. This live album includes some of Gayle's biggest hits from the 70s and 80s, like "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue", "When I Dream", and "Half the Way"...
(2007).
In the early years of the new millennium, Gayle co-wrote and recorded "Midnight in the Desert", a haunting Southwestern song for late-night radio host Art Bell.
In January 2007, Gayle became involved in the hunt for fugitive Christopher Daniel Gay
Christopher Daniel Gay
Christopher Daniel Gay, also nicknamed Little Houdini, is a 35-year-old fugitive of Coffee County, Tennessee.Gay escaped police custody the afternoon of March 3, 2009 while being transported from Orlando, Florida to Coffee County, Tennessee. He had been arrested and held for larceny of a Wal-Mart...
. Gay escaped from custody at an Interstate 95
Interstate 95 in South Carolina
Interstate 95 is a major Interstate Highway, running along the East Coast of the United States from Florida to Maine. In South Carolina, I-95 runs approximately parallel to the Atlantic Ocean shore although about inland, from Hardeeville in the south to Dillon in the northeast.-Route...
welcome center near Hardeeville, South Carolina
Hardeeville, South Carolina
Hardeeville is a city in Jasper County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,952 at the 2010 census, a 64 percent increase from its recorded population of 1,793 from the 2000 Census...
, and made his way to Tennessee where he stole Gayle's tour bus. Gay drove the bus from Whites Creek, Tennessee
Whites Creek, Tennessee
Whites Creek, Tennessee is a community located in the northern part of Davidson County, Tennessee. The community is named for the creek of the same name running north-south along U.S. Route 431...
, to the Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...
in Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
, parking the bus in a VIP spot next to NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the...
. Gay was arrested the following day and the bus was returned to Gayle.
Gayle was ranked No. 33 in a 2002 CMT countdown of the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. She was awarded "Best Female Entertainer" in 2007 by the Second Annual American Entertainment Magazine Reader's Choice Awards as she continues to regularly tour the globe. In February 2008, Crystal was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. On October 2, 2009, Gayle received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
during a ceremony in Hollywood, California.
Gayle married her high school sweetheart, Bill Gatzimos, shortly after graduating from high school. The couple have two children, Catherine and Chris, and one grandson, Elijah. Gayle's family resides in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
where she had her own specialty store, "Crystal's for Fine Gifts and Jewelry", which closed in August 2008. Crystal Gayle is still singing and touring and is working on a couple of different projects with her son, Chris, a recent graduate of Belmont University's acclaimed music engineering program.
Awards and honors
American Entertainment Magazine- Best Female Entertainer (2007)
American Music Awards
- Favorite Female Country Artist (1979)
- Favorite Female Country Artist (1980)
- Favorite Female Country Artist (1986)
- Favorite Female Video Artist (1986)
Academy Of Country Music Awards
- Top New Female Vocalist (1975)
- Top Female Vocalist (1976)
- Top Female Vocalist (1977)
- Top Female Vocalist (1979)
Cherokee Medal Of Honor
- Awarded In Tahlequah, Oklahoma (2000)
Crystal Gayle Day
- October 2, 2009 - Hollywood, California
Country Music Association Awards
- Female Vocalist Of The Year (1977)
- Female Vocalist Of The Year (1978)
Grammy Awards
- Best Female Country Vocal Performance (1978) – "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue"
Hollywood Walk Of Fame
- Star # 2390 Awarded (2007) – Unveiled (2009)
Kentucky Music Hall Of Fame
- Inducted (2008)
Music City News
- Most Promising Female Artist Of The Year (1975)
Native American Hall Of Fame
- Inducted (2001)
People Magazine
- The 50 Most Beautiful People In The World (1983)