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Jean Shepard has passed away and the Grand Ole Opry Mourns

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Ferlin Husky & Jean Shepard  More than a trailblazer, the Country Music Hall of Fame lady Jean Shepard has passed away at the age of 82.  She was known to be feisty and a real people person.  If there was a wrong, she would help to right it.   She passed away early this morning.  She was born on November 21, 19 33 in Oklahoma .  She came from a large family of nine children. Her story is much like that of many of the old time country stars.  Her parents were poor but they were abundant in love.  Jean found she loved singing and did so in church. She dared to sing songs about subject matter that was taboo in those times, songs about cheating and breaking up.  She went where no other woman artist had gone before.   One such song was “Act Like a Married Man.” She put together an all girl band when she was in High School and sang on Saturday mornings at her local radio station not far from Bakersfield after her family had moved west.  She was discovered on a l

COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME MEMBER BONNIE BROWN DIES AT 77

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Bonnie Brown Bonnie Brown Ring, one- third of one of Country  Music’s most enduring  family groups as a member  of The Browns, passed  away earlier today (July 16 )  at Baptist Hospital in Little  Rock, Arkansas following  complications from lung  cancer. She was 77 years  old. Born July 31, 1938 in Sparkman, Arkansas, Brown  became enamored wit h music at an early age thanks to the exposure  she had to it from watching her older siblings, Maxine and  James Edward. The two performed together, earning a hit in  1954 with “Looking Back To See.” Upon her graduation from  high school, Bonnie joined her siblings, expanding their duet  into a trio. They began performing together on  The  Louisiana Hayride  on KWKH in  Shreveport, which led to appearances on  ABC-TV’s Ozark Jubilee. Chet Atkins and  RCA came calling soon after, and the  Browns found themselves on the chart  with hits such as “I Take The Chance” and  “I Heard The Blue