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Barbara Mandrell
Member Since 1972
Born in Houston on Christmas Day 1948 to musical parents Irby and Mary Mandrell, Barbara Mandrell learned to read music before words. After touring with Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, Barbara started performing with her parents as the Mandrells. She married Ken Dudney, a young drummer they hired for the act, and temporarily got out of show business when his career as a Navy pilot sent them both overseas.
But Barbara couldn’t stay out of the spotlight. Nashville club appearances led immediately to Music Row interest and she signed with CBS Records, hitting the charts with the Otis Redding classic “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.”
In the late ’60s and into the ’70s, she was a consistent hit-maker with country/pop tunes. In 1979, she was the Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year, and for the next two years she and sisters Louise and Irlene starred in the popular TV variety show Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters.
In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Mandrell was one of country music’s dominant artists, becoming the first artist to win the CMA Entertainer of the Year Award two years in a row, in 1980 and 1981.
Barbara's most recent accolades include being awarded a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in 2007 and her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in May 2009.
Latest CD
It Works For Me