Billie Jo Spears
Biography
Billie Jo Spears (born January 14, 1937 in Beaumont, Texas as Billie Jean Spears, died December 14, 2011 in VIdor, Texas) was a country music singer who was particularly popular in the 1970s.
Spears moved from Texas to Nashville in 1964. She earned a Capitol Records contract in 1968. Her first hit was 1969s "Mr. Walker, Its All Over."
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Spears won country fans over with her tough, bluesy style; however, it was not until 1975s "Blanket on the Ground" that she broke through to major stardom. The song hit number one on the country charts in the United States. The song did well in the United Kingdom, as well; the song climbed into the top five in the pop hits there.
Spears followed up "Blanket on the Ground" with the top ten "What Ive Got In Mind." "What Ive Got in Mind" did even better in the United Kingdom, turning out to be a second top 5 British hit for her across the sea.
Spears had successes with "Misty Blue," "57 Chevrolet," "Love Aint Gonna Wait For Us," "If You Want Me," and others. 1981s remake of Tammy Wynettes 1960s hit, "Your Good Girls Gonna Go Bad," was Spears last voyage into Americas country top 20.
Her Greatest Hits album was a top 10 best seller, and furthered her fan base.
By the mid-1980s, her success in the United States had tapered off. However, she retained a following in the U.K., recording a number of albums for the British market that had limited or no release in America. This level of fame in Britain was summed up by the the magazine entitled Country Music People during the 1990s when an article described Spears as "The Queen Mother of Country music."
In 2005, Spears released the album "Im So Lonesome I Could Cry". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.