The
She’s been called one of the finest song stylists in any genre, a singer who owns the patent on any song she sings. Tanya Tucker’s inimitable vocal styling and soulful performances have resulted in a string of hit albums and singles, garnered hundreds of honors and awards and made her a country music legend. In 1972 renowned music critic Nat Hentoff wrote in Cosmopolitan magazine: “Tanya’s voice is vibrato-full and tangy, with the kind of restless intensity that stays in your mind long after the song is done. This teenager has become one of the most dramatic presences in all of music, not just country.”
Tanya was thirteen when a
That public image and those hits caused MCA Records to offer Tanya what we then the most lucrative recording contract ever awarded in country music, 1.5 million dollars. The hits kept on coming: “Lizzie and the Rainman,” “San Antonio Stroll,” “Don’t Believe My Heart Can Stand Another You,” “Texas When I Die,” and “Pecos Promenade,” to name but a few during her MCA years.
In 1986 she signed with Capitol Records, and recorded over a decade of hits including “Strong Enough to Bend,” “Down To My Last Teardrop,” “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane,” “It’s a Little Too Late,” and “Tell Me About It” with Delbert McClinton.
In 1991 she was named the Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year” and the following year she was Country Music Television’s Video Artist of the Year. In 1996 she was one of the Top Ten overall most played artists of the year, and Capitol Records biggest selling signed female country artist.
On March 26, 1997, Hyperion released Tanya’s New York Times Best Selling autobiography, Nickel Dreams. The Miami Herald called it compelling. Newsweek dubbed it, “…feisty and good-humored.”
After several years devoted to heavy touring, Tanya released a self-titled album in 2002 on Tuckertime Records. Audiences welcomed signature Tanya performances on songs like “A Memory Like I’m Gonna Be” and “Old Weakness (Coming On Strong).” Billboard said “Tanya Tucker’s throaty vocal has been sorely missed on contemporary country airwaves too often populated with female vocalist either blatantly going for crossover or trying out for cheerleader. Her first album in five years is a fine return to form with A-list writers and personality for days.” In that year she was named to the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 2005 Tanya released a new book, 100 Ways to Beat the Blues on Fireside, a division of Simon & Schuster. The book includes tips on pulling yourself out of the dumps from Tanya’s friends including Willie Nelson, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brenda Lee, Roseanne, Burt Reynolds and Wynonna.
It was a short jump from Tuckertime to Tuckerville. That feisty, good-natured star Newsweek wrote about is now welcoming fans into her home, via one of 2006’s hit reality shows: Welcome to Tuckerville. On The Learning Channel, Welcome to Tuckerville is an in-depth; behind the scenes visit the star. Fans follow along with Tanya on tour, working her horses, playing with her large family of dogs (including a white Lab given to her by Kevin Costner) and, of course, her irrepressible and talented children, daughters Presley and Layla and son Grayson.
There is no mistaking that voice or the charismatic personality behind it. Tanya Tucker is one of the music world’s most distinctive stylists. And with a track record of more than 40 top-10 hits, she has long since proven herself as a brilliant judge of songs.
Don’t miss country-music superstar Tanya Tucker at Branson’s