Daughter of Dottie West

Had country hits in the early 1980s including several duet singles with David Frizzell.

Is portrayed by Lisa Akey in Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story (1995) (TV)

Shelly West (born May 23, 1958, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American Country Music Singer. Her mother was the legendary Country Music singer Dottie West, whose career spanned three decades.

Shelly West, however, was a Country Music singer in her own right during the 1980s, best-known for having hit duets with David Frizzell, and for their #1 hit "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma." She also was a successful solo artist, having her own #1 hit, "Jose Cuervo", in 1983.

With Shelly West's mother, Dottie West being one of Country Music's most well-recognized female performers, Shelly West had a lot to live up to. However, during the 1980s, Shelly West was a Country singer on her own, proving she could have the success her mother had as an artist.

Shelly West was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1958 to Dottie and Bill West. She was named after her mother's favorite actress, Shelly Winters. During the time West was born, her mother was trying to make it big as a Country artist in Nashville, Tennessee. By the time Shelly was five years old, West finally made it big in Country Music, with a big hit the previous year called "Here Comes My Baby." She lived on her parents estate, where Shelly was exposed to Country Music. It would not be a surprise that Shelly would later want to become a Country singer herself.

West gained her first professional exposure singing with her mother's band in 1975, where she performed as a background singer. While performing with her mother's band, she fell in love with the band's guitarist, Allan Frizzell, who was the younger brother of country singer David Frizzell, and of legendary country artist Lefty Frizzell. Shelly and Allan married, left the band and in 1977, they moved to California.

Out in California, Shelly and Allan played with Allan's brother, David Frizzell's band. Together, they all toured the southwest. Upon their return, David was looking for a record label to sign on with and sent a demo recording out featuring him singing a duet with Shelly called "Lovin' On Borrowed Time." The demo was noticed by producer Snuff Garnett, who was impressed with the demo duet so much that he signed David and Shelly to his record label Casbalanca West Records.