Biography of Connie Smith

You rarely hear the name Connie Smith mentioned in the same breath with Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette or Dolly Parton. But poll Nashville's old guard as to who the great female country singers of all time have been, and Connie's name will show up near the top every time. Many, in fact, would put her there without the "female" qualifier. Listening to Smith can be emotionally exhausting. One song blows you off your barstool, the next tears a hole in your heart, and the third sends you crying to the chapel. A Cinderella story to boot, young housewife Smith was discovered by Bill Anderson in 1963 at a talent contest in small town Ohio. Her debut RCA single, released a year later, was The Anderson-penned "Once A Day." A #1 smash, it made Smith an instant superstar, the one thing the shy singer has never really wanted to be. In the late 1970s, she dropped out of the business completely, but has recently reemerged on the Nashville scene, her pipes as strong as ever. ~ Dan Cooper