Truely "The First Lady of Country"
Tammy Wynette
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Virginia Wynette Pugh
Born: May 5, 1942
Died: April 6, 1998

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������������������� Born Virginia Wynette Pugh, May 5, l942� on a cotton farm in

��������������������� Itawamba County, Miss., and worked in the fields as a child. When Tammy
��������������������� was only 8 months old, a brain tumor killed her father leaving her mother
��������������������� to struggle as a single parent. She was raised on her grandparents' home in
��������������������� Red Bay, Alabama.
��������������������� Tammy taught herself to play a variety of instruments left behind by her
��������������������� father.
�������������������� When she was a teenager, she moved to Birmingham to be with her mother.
��������������������� She later worked at several jobs as a waitress, a doctor's receptionist, a
��������������������� barmaid and a shoe factory worker.
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�������������������� At 17, she married her first husband, Euple Byrd, and set to work as a
�������������������� hairdresser and beautician, making 180-mile trips to Nashville in hopes of
�������������������� getting discovered as a singer.� The marriage was short-lived, 1959/1965 but it
�������������������� produced three children within three years. Gwen born 1961,� Jackie born 1962
�������������������� and Tina born 1965. By the time her third child was born, the couple were
�������������������� divorced.

�������������������� Tammy's third child had spinal meningitis, hitting her with several expensive
�������������������� medical bills to pay. In order to gain some extra money, she began performing in
������������������� clubs at night. In 1965, she landed a regular spot on a television program the
������������������� Country Boy Eddie Show, which led to appearances on Porter Wagoner's
������������������� syndicated show.
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������������������ The following year, 1966 she changed her name to Tammy and moved to
������������������ Nashville, where she auditioned for several labels before producer Billy Sherrill
����������������� signed her to Epic Records.

������������������ In 1967 she married Don Chapel again ending in divorce in 1968

����������������� Tammy teamed up with George Jones in the late sixties, and their musical
����������������� partnership eventually led to marriage in 1969 , daughter Georgette born 1970.
����������������� But their marriage was troubled also and again Tammy found herself divorced
����������������� in 1975.

����������������� Quite a bit of bitterness was between the two until in 1993 they were on friendly
����������������� terms again after Jones paid Wynette a visit while she was hospitalized and on life
����������������� support due to a bile duct infection.
����������������� They eventually teamed up for the1995 album One and embarked on a tour.

����������������� Once again Tammy suffered heartache with a short lived marriage to Michael
����������������� Tomlin in 1976.

����������������� Then in 1978 she married George Richey, her present husband, who became
����������������� her manager.
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����������������� Her long career, during which was marred by tumultuous marriages,
����������������� seventeen major surgeries, an addiction to prescription pills, bankruptcy, shock
����������������� treatments for depression, and even a kidnapping and a beating. But determined
����������������� not to let life keep her down. Tammy went on, hitting the charts with
���������������� "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "I Still Believe in Fairy Tales," .She had more
����������������� than twenty number-one hits; was a three-time winner of the Country
����������������� Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year Award; recorded
����������������� more than fifty albums; and sold more than thirty million records.

��������������������� Wynette's most recent work included a collaboration with Loretta
��������������������� Lynn and Dolly Parton on the album Honky Tonk Angels, and with
��������������������� the dance group KLF on the hit song "Justified and Ancient." In
��������������������� March of this year, Wynette won a privacy suit against the Star and
��������������������� The Enquirer for publishing stories that she claimed exaggerated her
��������������������� health problems. Wynette alleged that the tabloids obtained her
��������������������� private medical records and then published stories that she was
��������������������� seriously ill. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

������������� Tammy died in her sleep at her home in Nashville, April 6, 1998
����������� from a possible blood clot.
��������������������� .
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Thank you Tammy.
We Love and Miss you.

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