Patsy Cline

Patsy Cline's lonesome voice is still regarded as a benchmark for heartfelt ballad singing and she remains one of the most iconic names in country music despite - or perhaps partly due to - being killed in a plane crash while at the peak of her powers at the age of 30. Her mother was 16 when she gave birth to Patsy, who grew up in poverty in Virginia. Her first performances were in talent shows and she dropped out of school and worked as a waitress by day and a club singer by night to help support her family. She cut her first track A Church, A Courtroom And Then Goodbye for Four Star Records in 1955 which led to an invitation to Nashville to sing at the Grand Ole Opry. This resulted in her self-titled debut album and her first big song, Walkin' After Midnight. Cline's unusually emotive voice struck a chord and she became one of the first country singers to cross over into the pop market and she signed to Decca Records. Another crossover hit I Fall To Pieces followed in 1961 and she became one of the Grand Ole Opry's biggest stars, creating another classic with her version of Willie Nelson's Crazy. A strong, forthright character, Cline took full control of her own career and had further hits with She's Got You, Heartaches and So Wrong. She survived a serious road crash in 1961 but died in a private plane that crashed in a forest in Camden, Tennessee two years later.