Dottie West: Raised on Country Sunshine
How Dottie West went from the fields of Frog Pond to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry and made country music history along the way.
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“I’ve loved to sing. I’ve loved living itself, but I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t get to sing.” ~ Dottie West
On the night of April 13, 1965, hundreds of eager entertainers and music industry professionals gathered in Los Angeles for the 7th Annual GRAMMY Awards. That year, they introduced new categories in the country music genre, including Best Female Country & Western Vocal Performance. The nominees were: Skeeter Davis, Connie Smith, Jean Shepard, Dottie West, and Wanda Jackson. The women waited with bated breath for the winner’s name to be announced: Dottie West for “Here Comes My Baby,” written by Dottie and her husband, Bill West.
It was a long way from the rolling hills of McMinnville, Tennessee to the fashionable Beverly Hilton Hotel, and Dottie had traveled more than a few arduous roads to get there. On that crisp, spring night, it seemed she had reached the pinnacle of success by making history as the first female in country music to claim a GRAMMY, but Dottie’s journey was just beginning.
