Profile
Wanda Jackson
Singer + Songwriter + Pianist
Female
Born
Oct 20, 1937
Age
75
Hometown
Maud, Oklahoma
Genres
Country music + R...
Instruments
Piano + Guitar + ...
Performed With
Hank Thompson (Mu...
Record Label
CMH Records
Wanda Lavonne Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 1960s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist. She is known to many as the Queen (or… Read More
Photos
View newly released photos of Wanda Jackson.
Romance
Check out the latest love interests for Wanda Jackson.
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Wendell GoodmanMarried 1961
Family
Discover the family history of Wanda Jackson.
Wanda Jackson
Age 75
parents
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Tom JacksonFather
News + Updates
Browse recent news and stories about Wanda Jackson.
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Music Review: Wanda Jackson The Best Of The Classic Capitol SinglesSeattle Pi - Feb 09, 2013
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Don't Count Out Wanda JacksonVoice of America - Jan 02, 2013 -
Spend That Money!The Portland Mercury - Nov 21, 2012
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Wanda Jackson On Mountain StageNPR - Nov 05, 2012
Timeline
Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Wanda Jackson.
CHILDHOOD
1937
Birth
Wanda Jackson was born to Tom Robert Jackson and Nellie Vera Jackson (December 19, 1913 - January 14, 2011) in Maud, Oklahoma in 1937, but has lived much of her life in Oklahoma City.
… Read More
TEENAGE
1954
16 Years Old
Jackson began her professional career while still attending Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City after being discovered by Hank Thompson in 1954, who heard her singing on local station KLPR-AM and invited her to perform with his band, the Brazos Valley Boys.
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After graduating from high school, Jackson began to tour with her father as manager and chaperon. She often shared the bill with Elvis Presley, who encouraged Jackson to sing rockabilly. She was a cast member of ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri from 1955–1960, and in 1956 she signed with Capitol, recording a number of singles mixing country with rock and roll. "I Gotta Know", released in 1956, peaked at No. 15.
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TWENTIES
1959
21 Years Old
She toured Japan in February and March 1959.
In 1960, Jackson had a Top 40 pop hit with "Let's Have a Party", a song Presley had cut three years earlier.
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Her 1961 and 1962 albums, Right or Wrong and Wonderful Wanda, featured her two top ten country hits from 1961.
1963
25 Years Old
In 1963, Jackson recorded a final album titled Two Sides of Wanda, which included both rock and roll and country music, including a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On".
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In 1965, Jackson made the move to country music as rockabilly declined in popularity, and had a string of Top 40 hits during the next ten years.
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In 1967, she recorded two albums, and released a string of singles during the next few years that often asserted a fiery and violent persona, including 1969's "My Big Iron Skillet", a top 20 hit which threatened death or assault for cheating on a spouse.
THIRTIES
1970
32 Years Old
In 1970 and 1971, she had her final top 20 country hits with "A Woman Lives For Love" (her second Grammy nomination) and "Fancy Satin Pillows".
1972
34 Years Old
She began recording gospel songs and albums, including 1972's Praise the Lord on Capitol.
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FORTIES
1984
46 Years Old
Now embracing her rock n'roll history, Jackson released a 1984 album titled Rockabilly Fever (later issued by Rounder Records as Rock N' Roll Your Blues Away in 1986), her first secular album in a decade and her first recording of rock music in over twenty years.
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1987
49 Years Old
Jackson recorded a duet with Browne on a 1987 album release by Browne and in 1995, she sang two duets with Flores on her 1995 album, Rockabilly Filly, and then embarked on a United States tour with her, her first American tour since the 1970s.
… Read More
LATE ADULTHOOD
2009
71 Years Old
In 2009, Oklahoma City named an alley for her in the Bricktown entertainment district. "Wanda Jackson Way" was officially christened with a live performance by Jackson in her "Way" on September 30, 2009.
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Jackson appeared on the BBC's Hootenanny at the end of 2010, performing her version of "Let's Have a Party" and a cover of the Amy Winehouse song "You Know I'm No Good" with Jools Holland and his orchestra.
2011
73 Years Old
The following year, after Winehouse's death, she took part in an Amy Winehouse tribute performance with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings at the VH1 Divas Live 2011.
… Read More
Original Authors of this text are noted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanda_Jackson.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.