TANYA TUCKER

With a burning desire to sing and entertain, Tanya Tucker began to carve out her career in country and pop music by the age of eight. Born in 1958 in Seminole, Texas as the youngest of three children, her early childhood was spent in Willcox, Arizona. It was in Willcox that young Tanya had the chance to sing at talent shows with the likes of Ernest Tubb, Rex Allen and Mel Tillis.

Tanya’s father, Beau Tucker, worked tirelessly to help promote his daughter, booking her on many small shows and fairs all over the Southwest. As a young girl, she played shows at the Arizona State Fair. She later made her professional debut when singer Mel Tillis invited her onstage to perform. Eventually she signed a recording contract with Columbia Records and recorded in Nashville with producer Billy Sherrill.

In the spring of 1972, the song “Delta Dawn” became her first Top Ten hit single. Tanya Tucker soon became a household name on country radio with number one hit songs like “Blood Red And Goin’ Down,” “What’s Your Mama’s Name,” “Would You Lay With Me (In A Field Of Stone),” and others that would keep her on the charts for many years.

Tanya has seen highs and lows in her career and personal life, from sagging record sales, her highly-publicized romances, and kicking addiction at the Betty Ford Clinic to renewed record sales and career industry awards. She was named the Country Music Association’s female vocalist of the year in 1991 and has received many other awards and nominations.

Tanya Tucker is ranked at number 20 on CMT’s 40 greatest women of country music and is widely recognized as one of the first female performers of what has become known as “outlaw country.” She is also one of the few entertainers of any genre who has made the leap from child star to a lengthy and successful career as an adult. Her most recent recording, My Turn, was released in 2009. In 2010, she recorded tracks at Jessi Colter’s home studio for an upcoming Waylon Jennings tribute album. (Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter were inducted into AMEHOF in 2005.) Tanya continues to record and tour nationally, but she continues to maintain her close ties to Arizona.

Tanya Tucker website