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Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artists. She had six number one singles and 25 top ten singles reach the Billboard country songs chart. She also hosted her own prime-time television show in the early 1980s that featured music, dance numbers and comedy sketches. Mandrell also played a variety of musical instruments during her career that helped earn her a series of major-industry awards.
Mandrell was born in Texas and raised mostly in California. Mandrell is from a musical family; she played several instruments by the time she was a teenager. Her skills on the steel guitar were noticed by country music entertainers, who gave Mandrell the chance to perform in public at age 13. During this period she became a regular on the television program Town Hall Party. She also performed as a musician when she toured in shows featuring Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. Her family formed a band in her late teens which traveled overseas and entertained military bases. After marrying in 1967, Mandrell briefly retired, but was inspired to pursue a singing career after watching a performance of the Grand Ole Opry live at the Ryman Auditorium. In 1969, she signed her first recording contract with Columbia Records. She was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1972.
In the early 1970s, Mandrell recorded a number of singles that combined country influences with R&B-Soul music. Her singles frequently made their way onto the country charts. Her most successful singles of this period were "Tonight My Baby's Coming Home" (1971) and "The Midnight Oil" (1973). In 1975, she moved to ABC Records-Dot Records records and reached her commercial breakthrough with country–pop singles like "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" (1978), "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" (1979), "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" (1981) and "One of a Kind Pair of Fools" (1983). She became a concert headliner and won several major music awards including the Entertainer of the Year accolade from the Country Music Association two years in a row.
Mandrell sustained serious head and leg injuries in a near-fatal car accident on September 11, 1984. She seriously considered retirement for a time. However, she returned to recording in 1985 and had several more top ten country singles including "Fast Lanes and Country Roads" (1985), "No One Mends a Broken Heart Like You" (1986), and "I Wish I Could Fall in Love Today" (1988). She resumed performing, touring, and began guest-starring in several television shows and numerous commercials. Mandrell appeared in several television films and shows during the late 1980s and 1990s like Burning Rage and Empty Nest. She continued recording into the 1990s, releasing several albums for the Capitol Records label including No Nonsense (1991). In 1997, Mandrell announced her retirement from performing and recording. She continued acting until 2000. In 2009, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame for her work in the industry.
In her early childhood, she began performing publicly. Her first recollection of performing in front people was at her family's church singing a rendition of the "Gospel Boogie". In addition to singing, Mandrell also learned several instruments as a small child. Mandrell's mother taught her how to play the accordion and read music before she entered into the first grade. When she was six years old, the family moved to Oceanside, California. Irby Mandrell opened his own music store. In her elementary school years, she learned to play saxophone while a part of the school band. During the same period, she started taking lessons on the steel guitar from her father's friend Norman Hamlet. After a year of practice on the instrument, Irby Mandrell took his daughter to a music trade show in Chicago, Illinois. At the program, she performed on the steel guitar. She was heard by country performer Joe Maphis who would help launch Mandrell's early career as a musician.
When she turned 14, her parents formed the Mandrell Family Band with Barbara on steel guitar, mother Mary on piano, and father Irby on lead vocals. They also hired two outside musicians including drummer Ken Dudney, whom Mandrell would later marry in 1967. The Mandrell Family Band mostly played military bases around the United States and performed a variety of music including songs by The Beatles. While in the band, Mandrell also learned how to play banjo and bass guitar. Mandrell also engaged in other activities during her teenage years. In 1965, she was voted "Miss Oceanside California". She participated in the marching band, chorus and student council. She eventually graduated from high school in 1967.
Shortly after high school graduation, Mandrell married Ken Dudney and chose to retire from performing to become a full-time housewife. Her last performance trip was to Vietnam where the Mandrell Family Band entertained the troops fighting in the Vietnam War. Upon returning, Mandrell found out that her husband had been sent temporarily overseas for his Navy pilot career. Feeling alone, Mandrell visited with her parents who had just moved to Nashville, Tennessee. There, the family attended a performance at the Grand Ole Opry. While watching the show that evening, Mandrell realized that she still wanted to perform. "I wasn't cut out to be in the audience," she recalled in 2003. With father Irby acting as her manager she got the chance to play steel guitar on a show located in the Printer's Alley section of Nashville. In addition to the steel guitar, Mandrell also sang on several selections in the show. Her skills as both a singer and musician caught the attention of six different record companies who offered her a recording contract. This included country music producer Billy Sherrill, who was watching the performance. In 1969, Mandrell signed with Sherill's label Columbia Records as a recording artist.
In 1971, Mandrell's single "Tonight My Baby's Coming Home" was her first to peak in the top ten of the Billboard country songs chart. It was followed in 1972 by a cover of Joe Tex's "Show Me", which made the top 20 on the same chart. At the same time, Mandrell started recording with country singer David Houston. Several of their recordings were released as singles and made the country charts in the United States and Canada. Their first single "After Closing Time" reached number six on the Billboard country survey and number four on Canada's RPM Country songs list. Their duets made the charts several more times between 1970 and 1974, including "I Love You, I Love You" (1973), which climbed into the Billboard top ten as well. Their recordings were released on a studio album titled A Perfect Match.
Critics and writers took notice of Mandrell's fusion of country music with R&B and soul. Author Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide described her early chart records as "colorful, spirited country soul". Wolff further explained, "The songs weren't exactly all roots and downhome twang, but they were certainly closer to the ground (and the soul) than any of her later, more suburban material." Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann highlighted Mandrell's country–soul mix in their 2003 book: "Mandrell's gives her vocals a hoarse, urgent quality that she put to good use on 'blue-eyed soul' versions of R&B songs," they noted.
In reviewing a Columbia compilation, AllMusic's Greg Adams stated that her early work was "some of the best recordings Barbara ever made." Some critics found that Mandrell's Columbia material lacked individuality and at times seemed closer resemble that of other Columbia artists. "Sometimes, it seems as if Sherrill isn't quite sure what to do with Mandrell. He keeps her away from anything that could be construed as a good fit for Tammy Wynette, and when the country does turn toward the straight-ahead, it's still soft; Merle Haggard's 'Today I Started Loving You Again' doesn't carry resignation in Barbara's hands, only reassurance," Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented on one of her early LP's.
In 1973, Columbia issued what was considered Mandrell's breakthrough record, called "The Midnight Oil". The song told the story of a wife having an affair and lying to her husband about the situation. The single became her second solo top ten hit, reaching number seven on the Billboard country chart and number five on the RPM country chart. Its corresponding studio album of the same name reached the number eight position on the Billboard country LP's chart. In 1974, she reached the top 20 on the country chart with "This Time I Almost Made It", which followed a similar country–soul style as her previous material. Mandrell later reflected to Biography about the lack of confidence she felt showcased her Columbia material: "There have been many times when I thought other people might be better singers or better musicians or prettier than me, but then I would hear Daddy's voice telling me to never say never, and I would find a way to squeeze an extra inch or two out of what God had given me." In 1975, she left Columbia's roster.
Mandrell reached her commercial zenith in the late 1970s with songs about infidelity and cheating. In 1978, "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" was her first single to reach the number one spot on the Billboard and RPM country charts. It was followed in 1979 by a cover of Luther Ingram's R&B hit "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right". It also topped the North American country charts and crossed over into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian pop songs chart. On Billboard's adult contemporary survey, the single reached the top ten. Both tracks appeared on Mandrell's top ten Billboard country album Moods (1978). Her 1979 album Just for the Record was also a top ten Billboard LP. Just for the Record spawned the country–pop crossover singles "Fooled by a Feeling" and "Years".
Now at her career peak, Mandrell became a headlining concert act. Her concert productions included choreography, costume changes and featured Mandrell on multiple musical instruments. One of her headlining performances was turned into a cable television special called The Lady Is a Champ. She also appeared on national television programs and won the Country Music Association's 1979 Female Vocalist of the Year accolade. Between 1980 and 1982, she and her siblings co-hosted the NBC television series Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters. It helped Mandrell become the first performer to win back–to–back Entertainer of the Year awards from the Country Music Association in both 1980 and 1981. Mandrell's recordings continued having commercial success too. She had top ten country singles with 1980's "Crackers" and "The Best of Strangers". In 1981, MCA issued her first live album, which charted the Billboard country albums top five and certified gold in sales from the United States. The disc included a track about staying close to country roots called "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool". Released as a single, it was her fourth number one song on the Billboard country chart.
Mandrell's commercial momentum continued through the early 1980s. Her twelfth studio album ...In Black & White reached number seven on the country albums list. It was followed by her fourteenth studio record Spun Gold (1983), which climbed to number five on the same list. Both discs spawned the number one singles "'Till You're Gone" and "One of a Kind Pair of Fools". Also included were the top ten recordings "Operator, Long Distance Please" and "In Times Like These". Mandrell's Clean Cut was also a top ten Billboard disc and featured the top five singles "Only a Lonely Heart Knows" and "Happy Birthday Dear Heartache". Mandrell's popularity allowed her to record an album of gospel music in 1982 titled He Set My Life to Music. The project brought Mandrell her first Grammy Awards awards. She also collaborated on several duets with Lee Greenwood in 1984. The duets were issued on their 1984 studio album Meant for Each Other, which featured the top five country single "To Me".
Despite her popularity and commercial appeal, Mandrell's early–1980s music received mixed reviews. Writer Kurt Wolff found that her 1980s recordings exemplified "a weak attempt to maintain her roots" featuring "garnish productions" that went "head-first into schmaltz". In reviewing her 1983 album, critic Greg Adams commented, " Spun Gold contains some bizarre collisions of country music's traditional working-class perspective with disco-era glitz." Meanwhile, writers Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann described her early 1980s singles as "powerful heartache songs" whose themes centered around "enduring financial hardship" and "proud-to-be country anthems".
On September 11, 1984, Mandrell and her two oldest children were in Tennessee heading home from shopping when another driver crossed the center line and hit them head on. Mandrell suffered a broken femur, shattered ankle, injured knee and a concussion that left temporary brain damage. The driver of the other vehicle died. Mandrell's children survived with minor injuries. The crash caused Mandrell to endure numerous surgeries on her femur and ankle. This led to prolonged pain and depression. "I never thought I would ever sing again or be Barbara Mandrell again, or any of that," she later told CNN. She eventually returned to the recording studio in May 1985, which resulted in the 1985 top ten country single "There's No Love in Tennessee". It appeared on Mandrell's Greatest Hits compilation, which was also issued in 1985. She returned to the stage for the first time in 1986 at the Los Angeles Universal Amphitheatre, with Dolly Parton serving as her opening act. Her next studio album Get to the Heart (1985) spawned the top ten Billboard songs "Fast Lanes and Country Roads" and "Angel in Your Arms". Her final album for MCA appeared in 1986 titled Moments. It spawned the top ten country song "No One Mends a Broken Heart Like You".
Mandrell signed with Capitol Records in late 1987. Her first Capitol single was a cover of Ray Price's "I Wish I Could Fall in Love Today", which reached the top five of the American and Canadian singles charts. It was included on her nineteenth studio disc I'll Be Your Jukebox Tonight (1988). The project featured a traditional country sound and included production credits for the first time from Fred Foster. It also spawned the top 20 single "My Train of Thought" (1989) and the charting song "Mirror, Mirror". Both songs were her final singles to chart in the United States. Mandrell remained with Capitol until 1991. Her next two Capitol discs were both issued in 1990: Morning Sun and No Nonsense (distributed through Liberty Records). For the latter album, Mandrell signed a commercial deal with the Kayser-Roth brand. Her final Capitol–Liberty project was issued in 1991 called Key's in the Mailbox. Mandrell's Capitol recordings found positive reviews from critics. Mary. A Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann found the songs to showcase "strong female lyrics", while Bill Carpenter said her 1991 album exemplified "Heartful soul and contemporary country."
Mandrell continued making live performance appearances on network television. She also remained a popular act on the Grand Ole Opry, including their televised portion of the program. Mandrell also continued recording and releasing new material. In 1994, the New York label Direct Records released two albums of her music. The studio album projects were marketed exclusively through television and appeared on networks such as TNN. That year, the label issued Acoustic Attitude, which was an album of re-recordings. The label also issued an album of new material that year titled It Works for Me. The album was reissued on Razor & Tie in 1997, which Mandrell temporarily signed a contract with that year.
Also in 1997, Mandrell announced her retirement from touring, recording and performing. In an interview with Billboard, Mandrell explained that she chose to retire so she could focus on a full–time acting career. She gave her final musical performance in October 1997 at the Grand Ole Opry house. Her final concert was aired on network television. Titled Barbara Mandrell and the Do-Rites: The Last Dance, premiered on TNN in late 1997. After her retirement, Mandrell sold all of her musical instruments. She now spends time on her family and domestic responsibilities.
Mandrell was given multiple offers from the NBC network to host her own syndicated show. However, she routinely turned it down. One day, NBC producer Marty Krofft was shown a wallet-sized photograph of Mandrell and her sisters playing different musical instruments. This prompted Krofft to contact Mandrell about offering her a program that she could co–host with her sisters. From his encouragement, she eventually agreed to host a show on his network. In 1980, she was signed by NBC to host a national television variety series. Titled Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters, the show was hosted by Mandrell along with her two sisters Irlene and Louise.
Mandrell learned choreography for the show and was routinely featured playing multiple musical instruments. (1998). 9780199770557, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199770557 In addition, the Mandrell sisters performed a series of comedy sketches. In their book The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, authors Tim Brooks and Earle F. Marsh noted that Barbara often portrayed the "serious, pushy sister" while Irlene was portrayed as the "sexy, vain one". (2025). 9780307483201, Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307483201 Mandrell often had to push back against NBC executives who insisted that the show feature hay barrels and other features of traditional country-western shows. "They expect you to be barefoot and ignorant," Mandrell commented in 2003. During its peak, it was estimated that the show attracted roughly 40 million viewers per week. For her work, Mandrell was nominated for Best Actress in a Television Musical or Comedy Series by the Golden Globe Awards.
Despite the NBC show's success, the constant workload (along with a focus on her music career) caused Mandrell to suffer from burnout. She often had to take extra naps on her tour bus parked next to the television studio. She also had to take Cortisone shots before show tapings so that her vocal chords had less strain. She was urged to quit the show by physicians who warned that she would ultimately suffer from permanent vocal damage. In 1982, Mandrell announced the program would end after a two-year run on NBC. "I'm the only person that I know of that has ever left a television series with a five year contract," she later commented.
She also made appearances on talk shows and network programs during the late 1980s and early 1990s. She also was featured in several television commercials for food products. In the early 1990s, she portrayed a character on the television show Empty Nest. In 1994, Mandrell played a villain guest role in an episode of ABC's The Commish. The Baltimore Sun described her as playing "a less sympathetic role than usual" in their description of the episode.
During the mid-1990s, Mandrell also played roles on the shows Touched by an Angel, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and Baywatch. In 1997, Mandrell gave up her music career to focus on acting full-time. She signed with the Creative Artists Agency, which helped her acquire more television roles. She appeared as a recurring character in the soap opera Sunset Beach. In 1999, Mandrell played the mother of a deceased son who finds conflict with his "controlling girlfriend". Titled The Wrong Girl, the television filmed aired on NBC that year. (2025). 9780810851740, Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810851740 Among Mandrell's final acting credits was 2000's made-for-television film Stolen from the Heart.
Writers found that Mandrell had her greatest commercial success with songs that incorporated subjects of cheating. Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann found this to be especially evident after she transitioned to her second record label: "Barbara continued to smolder in sin after moving to the ABC/MCA Records fold in 1975." Kurt Wolff found a similar theme with cheating material: "The subjects of many of Mandrell's songs were also racy for the time, dealing openly with such topics as lust, sexual loneliness, and late night-night love trysts." Wolff further commented, "What's ironic about her subject matter is that Mandrell herself–a devout Christian, mother and wife– always maintained an impeccably clean, family–oriented profile." "I've recorded a lot of cheating songs, but there were a lot of cheating songs I turned down. It depends on the lyrics...God loves prostitutes too," Mandrell further commented.
Her influence on future artists has also shaped her legacy. Mandrell has been credited as an influence for Terri Clark, Reba McEntire, and Carly Pearce. McEntire thanked Mandrell in 2009 and spoke about her influence: "I thank you for the things that you've taught me, not only musically, but spiritually...And I will always treasure our relationship with all my heart." In 2006, several artists re-recorded several of Mandrell's most popular singles in tribute to her career. The project was titled She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool: A Tribute to Barbara Mandrell. It featured of remakes of her songs performed by contemporary country performers such was Kenny Chesney, Sara Evans and LeAnn Rimes.
Mandrell has been only one of a few women to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year award, and one of only two women (alongside Taylor Swift) to win the award twice. She was also the first individual to win the accolade in back to back years (1980 and 1981). In 2005, she received the Triple Crown accolade from the Academy of Country Music for winning three major awards from the association. She is only one of several people to have since won the award. In 2009, Mandrell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. She was inducted that year along with Roy Clark and Charlie McCoy. Her induction was celebrated that year at the Country Music Association Awards where Mandrell gave a speech to thank the industry.
Mandrell's legacy was further cemented she released her 1990 autobiography called (co-written with writer George Vecsey titled). In 1997, the book was turned into a television movie titled . She was portrayed in the film by television actress Maureen McCormick. Mandrell briefly made a cameo appearance at the beginning and end of the film.
In 2020, American disc jockey and producer Dave Audé partnered with Mandrell to remix her 1978 song "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed". Rolling Stone explained that the song was remixed as "the first step in a new effort to bring Barbara Mandrell's music into the digital age." It was followed by all of Mandrell's LP's being reissued to digital and streaming sites. Her original Columbia, ABC–Dot, MCA, and Capitol albums were all re–released through various digital platforms.
In July 2022, Mandrell celebrated 50 years as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Several Opry members and country artists performed on the stage to honor Mandrell's legacy. Among the artists who performed that night were Suzy Bogguss, Jeannie Seely and Carrie Underwood.
At the time of their marriage, Dudney gave up his career as a Navy pilot to help further his wife's career. The couple welcomed their first child, Matthew, in 1970, followed by daughter Jaime in 1976. In 1985 Mandrell gave birth to her third child, Nathan.
In 1988, Mandrell and her family built a log cabin mansion called the Fontanel Mansion. The home consisted of six bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, two kitchens, five fireplaces and a helicopter landing pad. It has been considered to be the largest log cabin home in the world. Mandrell sold the home in 2002 in order to downsize. The home was auctioned. It has since been turned into a tourist attraction with a restaurant, a hotel, an outdoor music venue, and an indoor shooting range. Her daughter Jaime was the human resources manager of the mansion until February 2017. She then began a new career with a company that works to place people with addiction issues into appropriate rehabilitation facilities.
Mandrell's injuries from the crash resulted in her suffering from pain throughout her body for months. Much of the physical pain she suffered came from knee injuries. "You can't say she's in terrible pain all the time if the pain she's in is the kind where she's trying to exceed what that knee will do, trying to make it do its full thing again. Every day she's trying to make it exceed what it did the day before so she can finally get it back to full capacity," said father Irby Mandrell to the Chicago Tribune.
As a result of Mandrell's head injuries, she had a temporary shift in personality and experienced memory loss. "I would refer to myself in the third person: 'That was her' or 'She did that' or 'You should have asked her. I can't do that'," she told The 700 Club. Mandrell's injuries took over a year to fully recover. In an interview with CMT, she explained that her head injury took about three years to fully recover. She explained that she still suffers from pain in her ankle.
Mandrell has credited seat belts for saving her and her children's lives. Prior to the day of the crash, Mandrell was not a seat belt user. However, minutes prior to the crash, she observed unbelted children playing around in the back of a moving car. Thinking this unsafe, she told her children to put on their seat belts and she would as well. After the crash, she campaigned and filmed television commercials that advocated for the use of seat belts in cars. She campaigned for arthritis and organ donation. Mandrell was made honorary chairman of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 1985.
Nearly a year later, in accordance with Tennessee state law, Mandrell was required to sue the White family for $10.3 million in damages in order to collect from her own insurance company. Her legal team contacted the White family to inform them that Mandrell did not want money from them but instead needed to do it for legal purposes. The lawsuit created controversy among Mandrell's fans. "I'm not blaming the public... I would have felt the way they felt", she commented in 1995.
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