Date of Birth 25 December 1948, Houston, Texas

Birth Name Barbara Ann Mandrell

Height 5' 2"

Spouse Ken Dudney (28 May 1967 - present) 3 children

When Barbara Mandrell was 14, her family formed its own group, with her father Irby on vocals and guitar, her mother Mary Ellen on bass, and Barbara Mandrell handling pedal steel and saxophone. The band also included drummer Ken Dudney, whom Barbara Mandrell would eventually marry. The Mandrells toured the U.S. and Asia before Barbara Mandrell made her first recordings in 1963, among them the minor hit "Queen for a Day." After a few more years of touring, Barbara Mandrell briefly retired in order to become a housewife, but she soon grew restless and returned to the music business. After signing with Columbia in 1969, she notched her first chart hit, a cover of the Otis Redding classic "I've Been Loving You Too Long." In 1970, Barbara Mandrell scored the first of many Top 40 hits with "Playin' Around With Love." In the same year, she began performing with singer David Houston, and their partnership also generated considerable chart success.

In 1975, Barbara Mandrell jumped to the ABC/Dot label, and under the guidance of producer Tom Collins reached the Top Five for the first time with the single "Standing Room Only." After a series of successive hits, she earned her first number one with 1978's "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed," which was immediately followed by another chart-topper, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right," in early 1979. Later in the year, "Years" also reached number one, as did three more singles -- "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool," "'Till You're Gone," and "One of a Kind Pair of Fools" -- between 1981 and 1983, a period during which Barbara Mandrell also received numerous industry awards and accolades.

In 1980, the TV program Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters premiered on NBC. In addition to hosts Barbara, Louise, and Irlene Mandrell, the show featured musical guests and comedy sketches. Each broadcast also closed with a gospel song, and in 1982 Barbara Mandrell released her own inspirational album, He Set My Life to Music. As a result of her busy schedule, she began suffering from vocal strain, and on doctor's orders pulled the plug on the television program in 1982. In 1983, she premiered The Lady Is a Champ, a Las Vegas stage show, and released two LPs, In Black & White and Spun Gold.

A collection of duets with Lee Greenwood, Clean Cut, followed in 1984. Tragedy struck later in the year, however, when Barbara Mandrell and two of her children were involved in a nightmarish head-on car crash that left the other driver dead. Though Barbara Mandrell and her kids survived, all three faced a long period of recovery. When she finally returned to performing a year later, the country music landscape had changed dramatically, with the "new traditionalist" movement gaining dominance while the glitzier, more pop-influenced music Barbara Mandrell favored began falling out of favor. As the 1980s became the 1990s, she began focusing almost exclusively on live performing, where she remained a significant draw; she also published her autobiography, Get to the Heart: My Story. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide