Patsy Cline, whose real name was Virginia Patterson Hensley, was a well-known American country singer from Nashville, Texas. She was renowned for her rich, booming, emotionally charged voice, which gave anyone goosebumps. She did not become a country music star overnight; in fact, she had to work extremely hard to support herself and her family members due to her middle-class origins. Her passion for singing was so strong that she taught herself music through experience. Following sporadic performances on local radio stations, Cline signed contracts with major record labels such as Four Star Records, Decca Records, and others and worked her way into the hearts of country and pop music fans via television, radio, and stage shows. She was the first female country singer to have a crossover pop hit, but tragically, Cline died in a plane crash at the height of her singing career. Following her death, millions of records were sold, and she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as the first female solo artist.
Childhood & Adolescence
Patsy Cline was born Hilda Patterson Hensley and Sam Hensley in Winchester, Virginia. She came from a lower-middle-class family; her father was a blacksmith and her mother was a seamstress. When Cline was only 15 years old, her father abandoned the family.
She began singing at an early age, when her mother took her to church to sing with her. Cline learned everything she knew about singing on her own, as she did not study it professionally.
To support her family, Cline dropped out of school and took on menial jobs such as waitressing. Because singing was one of her strengths, she requested permission to perform on WINC-show. AM’s coordinator’s
Career of Patsy
Cline was invited to sing on WINC-coordinator AM’s Jimmy McCoy’s show in 1947, and her performance was so well received that she was invited back. This was her admission ticket to the nightclubs’ opening stage performances.
She increased her musical exposure by performing in variety and talent shows around Winchester and the Tri-State area, in addition to her increased radio appearances. She began appearing regularly on Connie B. Gay’s ‘Town and Country Jamboree’ in 1954.
Cline signed a contract with Four Star Records in 1955 as a result of her growing popularity. According to the contract, she was only permitted to sing compositions written by the company’s writers, which became increasingly difficult to adjust to creatively.
She began experimenting with genres, recording honky tonk and rockabilly material, but nothing seemed to work for Cline at the time. She also made her television debut on ABC-‘Grand TV’s Ole Opry.’
In 1957, she reached a watershed moment in her career when she appeared on ‘Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts Show’ and won the competition with her new composition, ‘Walkin’ After Midnight.’
Cline’s career began to take interesting turns in the early 1960s as she established herself in the country and pop music industries. She landed a part on the ‘Grand Ole Opry’ in Nashville, Tennessee.
She was now signed to Decca Records, where she released several of her greatest hits, including ‘I Fall to Pieces (1961). It peaked at number twenty on the pop charts, and one of her other chart-topping singles, ‘Crazy,’ was released the same year.
Cline established herself as a country pop queen in 1962 with the release of her legendary song ‘She’s Got You’. It debuted at the top of the country charts. This success earned her the opportunity to join country singer Johnny Cash on tour.
Following this, she charted several minor country hits, including the Top 10 ‘When I Get Thru’ With You, ‘Imagine That, ‘So Wrong, and ‘Heartaches’. These were not exactly chart-topping albums, but they are still considered successful compilations.
Cline made her television debut on Dick Clark’s ‘American Bandstand’ in 1962 and released her third album, ‘Sentimentally Yours.’ She was working on her fourth album, originally titled ‘Faded Love’, a month before her untimely demise.
Major Works ‘Walkin’ After Midnight,’ recorded in 1956, is widely regarded as Cline’s crowning achievement. The Track peaked at number two on the country charts and number sixteen on the pop charts, making her the first female country singer to have a crossover pop hit.
Personal History and Legacies
From 1953 to 1957, Cline was married to Gerald Cline. Their marriage failed because she desired a career in singing while he desired a housewife. The couple were childless.
She married Charlie Dick, a linotype operator, in 1957 and remained with him until her death. Julie Dick and Randy Dick were the couple’s two children.
Cline was involved in a near-fatal car accident in 1961 while traveling around Nashville with her brother. She sustained an uneven forehead cut, a broken wrist, and a dislocated hip.
She died in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee, in 1963, and was buried in her hometown of Winchester, Virginia, at Shenandoah Memorial Park. Thousands of her fans paid their respects at her funeral.
Estimated Net Worth
Patsy Cline was a country music singer from the United States of America who amassed a net worth of $10 million. Patsy Cline was born in September 1932 in Winchester, Virginia and died in March 1963.
Cline was a pioneer of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s and eventually made the transition to popular music.
Trivia
Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Randy Hughes were on their way to a performance when their plane was forced to crash due to bad weather. Every person on board perished. “Virginia H (Patsy) Cline ‘Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love'”, her gravestone reads.
In 1985, HBO released ‘Sweet Dreams: The Life and Times of Patsy Cline,’ starring Jessica Lange as Patsy Cline, Ed Harris as her husband Charlie Dick, and Ann Wedgeworth as her mother Hilda Hensley. Lange received an Academy Award nomination for her performance.