Kitty Wells to be honored

July 17, 2008 11:59 am

— The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum will honor country music’s first female superstar, Kitty Wells, in Kitty Wells: Queen of Country Music, Presented by Great American Country Television Network, a biographical exhibit opening Friday, August 15, for a 10-month run in the museum’s East Gallery. The exhibit will run through June 14, 2009.
Opening weekend festivities will include a 45-minute exhibit tour, guided by a museum curator; an interview with Wells, hosted by 650 WSM announcer Eddie Stubbs and illustrated with photos, film footage and recordings from the museum’s Frist Library and Archive; an autograph signing by Wells in the Museum Store; and a screening of the 1982 Showtime special A Tribute to Kitty Wells, hosted by Tammy Wynette.
“Kitty Wells is, quite simply, a trailblazer,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “Her many hits—including her signature song ‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels’—were sung from a woman’s point of view, something that was new to country music at that time. She was marketed as a solo performer in an industry where women previously had performed only as members of family groups. Her success in selling records and concert tickets led record companies to open their doors to women artists. Many of contemporary country music’s biggest stars are women,” he said, “but Kitty Wells is the prototype.
“We are grateful to both Kitty and her husband, country star Johnnie Wright, for opening up their lives and home to us and allowing us to tell their extraordinary story.”
All programs August 15-17 are included with museum admission and free to members.
These programs are made possible, in part, by grants from the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and by an agreement between the Tennessee Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts.
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The museum’s mission is the preservation of the history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern culture. With the same educational mission, the Foundation also operates CMF Records, the Museum’s Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press, Historic RCA Studio B, and Hatch Show Print.
More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.com or by calling (615) 416-2001.