Country Music News for the Country Music Enthusiast

Tanya Tucker - 36 Years of Great Music
Story & Photos by Glenda S. Paradee

Tanya Tucker brought her enthusiastic show to the Valle Del Oro Resort in Mesa, Arizona on January 30, 2008.

Tanya still got what it takes to woo an audience. Tucker performed all of her many hits from throughout her whole career. I heard the audience singing along with her during most of the show.
Tucker is so fun to watch live in concert because she acts out all the songs. She has such a fun personality and she has an positive aura about her.
Every song she performed, she put her whole body & soul into. Tucker's voice is strong and she still flirts on stage. One of my favorites, "Down To My Last Teardrop", got a very loud response from the crowd. The finale was "Delta Dawn" and Tanya received a standing ovation. 
Please go see Tanya when she comes to your area. She's a true legend in her own right.

Thanks for the Music Tanya!

Ross, Tanya &  Glenda S. Paradee-Villaverde	Cheryle Lamb & Tanya	Tricia Lamb & Tanya

More on Tanya:
1972 - 1979: Teen country star

Sherrill initially planned to have Tucker record "The Happiest Girl In the Whole USA," but she passed on the tune to Donna Fargo, choosing "Delta Dawn" - a song she heard Bette Midler sing on The Tonight Show - instead. Released in the spring of 1972, the song became a hit, peaking at number six on the country charts and scraping the bottom of the pop charts. At first, Columbia Records tried to downplay Tucker's age, but soon word leaked out and she became a sensation. A year later, Australian singer Helen Reddy would score a #1 U.S. pop hit with her version of "Delta Dawn."

Her second single, "Love's the Answer," also became a Top Ten hit later in 1972. Tucker's third single, "What's Your Mama's Name," became her first number one hit in the spring of 1973. Two other number ones - "Blood Red and Goin' Down" and "Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)" followed, establishing Tucker as a major star. At the time, Tucker was one of the youngest stars to ever enter Country music. However, there had been other previous teen Country stars before her, including Brenda Lee and Marie Osmond. LeAnn Rimes would later have success at an early age as well.

In 1975, she signed with MCA Records, where she had a string of hit singles that ran into the late '70s. Among these hits was "Lizzie and the Rainman," which became a #1 Country hit and also became Tucker's only Top 40 Pop music hit, peaking at #37. It also peaked among the Top 10 on the Adult Contemporary charts at the time. Tucker has a string of Top 10 Country hits under MCA between 1975 and 1978, including "San Antonio Stroll", "Here's Some Love" and "It's a Cowboy-Lovin Night".

In 1978, she decided to radically change her image and cross over to rock with her TNT album. Despite the controversy over the record and its sexy cover, it went gold the following year. Two songs from the album became hits, "Texas (When I Die)" and "I'm a Singer, You're the Song." The biggest hit from the album was "Texas (When I Die)" which reached #5 on the Country charts, and also peaking in the bottom of the Pop charts at #70.

1986 - 1997: Return to country

In 1986, Tucker signed with Capitol Records. In 1986, she returned with "One Love at a Time," which climbed to number three. Tucker's career was revitalized with 1986's album, Girls Like Me, an album that spawned four Top 10 country singles. In 1988, she had three No. 1 country singles: "I Won't Take Less Than Your Love" (with Paul Davis and Paul Overstreet), "If It Don't Come Easy" and "Strong Enough to Bend."

Her music was now more country pop-styled and up-tempo, but this material was what made Tucker popular again. Between 1988 and 1989, Tucker endured one of her most popular years on the charts, racking up nearly eight Country Top 10 hits in a row. Her albums around this time were also acheiving "Gold" certifications by the RIAA, after selling 500,000 copies. A Greatest Hits album followed in 1989, releasing a Top 5 hit to the country charts that year from the album called "My Arms Stay Open All Night," which peaked at #2.

In 1988, Tucker was nominated by the Country Music Association for "Female Vocalist of the Year", and was nominated for other major awards during this time.

After many years in country music, her contributions were finally rewarded when the Country Music Association voted her the "Female vocalist of the Year" in 1991, though she missed the event, having just given birth to her second child. Eight consecutive singles reached the Top 10 in the early 1990s, including "Down to My Last Teardrop," "(Without You) What Do I Do With Me" and "Two Sparrows in a Hurricane." The previous year, she was named by CMT "Female Video Artist of the Year". Although by the early 90s Tucker no longer had #1 hits, there were many singles that came close peaking in the Country Top 5 as well as the Top 10. Tucker was one of the most successful female Country artists at the time. She became one of the few teen stars to find success in her adult years.

In 1993, Greatest Hits rose to number 15 and Soon rose to number 18 on the Top Country Albums chart. Tucker signed with Capitol in 1994. 

By now, Tucker was a 20-year veteran in country music, even though she was only in her mid-30s. In 1994, "Hangin' On" was her last Top 5 hit, as well as her last Top 10 hit for a while. That year she performed at the half-time show at Super Bowl XXVIII. However, Tucker was able to stay in the Country Top 40 this time. In 1996, Tucker was one of the Top 10 most played artists of the year, and that time Capitol Records' biggest signed female artist. In 1997, she returned to the Top 10 on the Country charts for the last time with the hit, "Little Things", which peaked at #9. That year, she was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame.


2000 - present: Music career today

In 2002 she founded Tuckertime Records, allowing her to retain control of the recording process and release the singles she wished to release. The same year she issued Tanya, her first album in five years, and received distribution through Capitol. The album was produced by her fiancé, Jerry Laseter, and included a guest vocal by Vince Gill. 

In 2002, Tucker was ranked #20 on CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002. She has also continued to release albums. In 2005, she released an album called Live at Billy Bob's Texas. That same year, she contributed two songs to a tribute album to Bob Wills, called A Tribute to Bob Wills 100th Anniversary. The year continued to make Tucker busy, now with a new book called 100 Ways to Beat the Blues on Fireside, which included tips on pulling yourself out of the dumps, from some of Tucker's good friends, like Willie Nelson, Brenda Lee, Little Richard, and Burt Reynolds.

Tanya is also releasing a new album titled Lonesome Town, and a new Live concert recorded at the Renissance Centre, back in December, will be released as well. Tanya will sing a duet with country music icon Billy Joe Shaver on his latest album, Everybody's Brother, to be released on September 25, 2007. Tanya has stated she is going into the studio to do a duet with country legend George Jones, for a new Jones album, due out in 2008.