Long-lasting, long-haired Crystal Gayle performs April 14 at Brown County Music Center
From 1975 to 1985, Crystal Gayle's music was the most-performed on radio by a female. World famous Loretta Lynn inducted Gayle, her baby sister, as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2017. But success for Gayle had begun decades earlier as a girl named Brenda ("Crystal" came later) started singing around the house.
Gayle, who lived for awhile in Bloomington — and got her ears pierced in a shop on the courthouse square — comes to Nashville's Brown County Music Center April 14.
Her long dark hair has captured her fans for years, and she still wears it sweeping and shining below her waist.
"I wanted to cut my hair once, but my kids said, 'You can't! You wouldn't be Crystal Gayle,'" she said over the phone.
Another BCMC upcoming concert: What to know about Here Come the Mummies at Brown County Music Center
Here are but a few of her accomplishments: received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; Academy of Country Music 2016 Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award; a Spotlight Exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Her industry awards include Most Promising Female Vocalist, Academy of Country Music; Country Music’s Female Vocalist of the Year; a Grammy for “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”; Favorite Female Country Video Artist, American Music Awards. She also won Most Played Country Artist on jukeboxes by the American Music Operators Association.
She has recorded 22 number one country singles and 34 top 10 singles.
Gayle hosted two CBS TV specials and an HBO special. With Gary Morris, Gayle recorded “Another World” as the theme song for the TV soap opera. She also guest-starred on the “Another World" show.
In October 1999, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers named “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue," composed by Richard Leigh, one of the top 10 most performed country songs of the century. “Talking in Your Sleep” had been chosen as BMI’s most played country song in 1978. BMI Film & TV Awards are presented each year by Broadcast Music, Inc., for composers, songwriters and music publishers.
Three of Gayle's albums are platinum, and five are gold in the U.S. In fact, she was the first female country artist to reach platinum album sales with "We Must Believe in Magic."
Some of her favorite moments have come from her Grammy, her performance on Nashville, Tennessee's Ryman Auditorium stage and co-hosting telethons for the Arthritis Foundation. A cherished memory is earning the Waterford Crystal “Celebration of Light” award, for charity work.
Gayle's latest album, “You Don’t Know Me," came out in 2019 and offers country classics that were special to her in her youth.
She was exposed to many styles of music growing up as the youngest of eight children. Still in school, she signed her first recording contact. Her debut single, “I’ve Cried the Blue Right out of My Eyes,” was written by sister Loretta Lynn and reached the Top 25 on the national country music charts.
“I’ll Get over You,” was her first number one single. After "Brown Eyes Blue" hit, the world became Crystal-Gayle-aware. From symphony halls to Carnegie Hall, from the best stages in Las Vegas to the London Palladium, "Crystal" crossed musical oceans.
Gayle's “In My Arms,” a collection of lullabies, sprang from her love for her littlest listeners and from her visit to “Sesame Street” to sing with Big Bird. She also contributed her performance of “Did You Know” to “Songs from the Neighborhood,” the tribute album to Mr. Rogers, which won a Grammy in 2006.
At home in Nashville, Tennessee, when not touring, Gayle enjoys spending time with her two children, two grandsons and her husband, Bill Gatzimos.
If you go
WHAT: County music's Crystal GayleWHEN: 8 p.m. April 14WHERE: Brown County Music Center, 200 Maple Leaf Blvd., Nashville
TICKETS: $20-$103, available at https://bit.ly/3Uddb1k.
MORE INFO: For more, call 812-988-5323 or go to browncountymusiccenter.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Crystal Gayle performs April 14 at Brown County Music Center