Crystal Gayle

Crystal Gayle (b. Brenda Gail Webb in Paintsville, Kentucky, January 9, 1951 - ) – At age four, Kentucky born Brenda Webb moved to Wabash, Indiana, where she attended high school and met her husband/manager Bill Gatzimos. Right after high school, she signed with Decca Records, her sister Loretta Lynn’s label. In order to avoid confusion with Brenda Lee, Decca suggested that Brenda Webb change her name. Her new last name “Gayle” came from a varied spelling of her middle name, and “Crystal” derived from Krystal Hamburgers (her sister Loretta's idea). From the mid 1970s to the late 1980s, Crystal Gayle had seventeen #1 country hits (compared to her sister's sixteen). Ranked #33 on CMT’s 2002 countdown of the 40 greatest women in country music, Gayle was Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist on the Year in 1977 and 1978. In addition, her crossover/pop hit “Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue” earned her a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1978. In 2007—four years after her last albums and 17 years after her most recent hit—she was named Best Female Entertainer by American Entertainment Magazine. Her album We Must Believe in Magic (1977) was the first country record to go Platinum. In 2017, she was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry by her sister Loretta Lynn. Although she hasn't released an album since 2003, she is reportedly working on one called Am I That Easy to Forget?