BARBARA MANDRELL – 72 YEARS OLD

Barbara Mandrell enjoyed an illustrious career as a country singer back in the 1970s and 1980s. She was born on December 25, 1948, in Houston, Texas. Her father was a World War II veteran and a police officer, who would later utilize his degree of business acumen to successfully manage his daughters’ careers in music for over 30 years.

She initially garnered attention after signing a record deal with major record label Columbia back in 1969. She dished out chart-hitting songs one after the other for the following years and even worked with legendary producer Billy Sherill. By 1975, the Texan singer moved on to the record label ABC/Dot, where she would redefine her music to a more country-pop genre. Here she delivered chart-topping hits such as Sleeping Single in a Double Bed and I Don’t Want to be Right. Through the years, her lucrative career also brought home seven American Music Awards and two Grammy Awards, among many others. She retired from performing and recording altogether back in 1997 and would do the occasional stage appearance throughout the 2010s.