Don Winters born 17 April 1929

Don Winters (April 17, 1929 - August 17, 2002) was an American country singer and songwriter.

Don Winters was born in 1929 in Tampa, Florida, he was raised mostly in South Georgia, he was the son of entertainer "Pop" Winters who headed "The Southern Strollers." Don began performing with them in the late 40s but moved to Nashville in the 50s and recorded on Decca and RCA labels. He recorded a few duets with his sister Rita Marie Winters, who was born on August 15, 1932 and chose the stage name Rita Robbins, with whom she had already participated in Nita, Rita & Ruby. The stage name Rita Robbins has no personal connection to Marty Robbins. 

Don was a gifted vocalist, noted especially for his yodeling and long wind. He began recording for RCA Victor in 1953 with his sister Rita. Then from 1956 - 1966 he recorded for various labels which included Coin (1956) Columbia (1957) Decca (1960) Brunswick (1961-62) Hamilton, Sims (1963) Ashley, Robbins (1966).  

                                   

His solo efforts included his 1961 top-ten single of "Too Many Times" and another favourite,  "Shake Hands With A Loser. Around 1960 he joined Marty Robbins' band as a singer and guitar player. With Bobby Sykes the three were known as "The Marty Robbins Trio" and performed with Marty Robbins. During his 23 years with Marty, he was part of the band and a featured solo artist in his shows.

Most internet sources credit them as being in the recording sessions for Columbia Records from spring 1960 to Dec. 1964 although, however it is well known that Marty Robbin's producers Don Law and Frank Jones mainly used session staff from the Nashville A-Team. Strangely both Winters and Sykes are not mentioned in Marty's recording sessions except for two in 1960. in the early '70s he had a brief side career recording several albums of country covers and generic tribute albums along with the studio band, The Country Ramblers.

Don Winters, Bobby Sykes and Marty Robbins

Meanwhile he was a devoted and loyal friend to Marty Robbins, accompanying him to races and public appearances until his death in 1982. Later, in an interview with Swampland, reporter Michael Buffalo Smith asked him that as well as touring with Robbins if he also recorded with him. Winters replied " Oh yes. I did the background vocals on a lot of songs like “El Paso City” and “Devil Woman.” Not the original “El Paso City,” we re-recorded it."   

Winters recorded the album "The Yodeling King" with his sons Donnie and Dennis, The Winters Brothers Band in 1984 , and also did a few shows with them. His last last performance was with his sons on June 15, 2002, a few months later he passed away at his home in Nolensville, Tennessee on August 17, 2002. He was first diagnosed with colon cancer in 1994 from which he recovered, but died after a year's struggle with liver cancer. He is buried in Nolensville Cemetery in Nolensville, Tennessee, USA.

(Scant information edited from IMDB, Rock'n'Roll Records Forum & Rocky 52)

Vince Hill born 16 April 1934

Vincent Brian Hill (16 April 1934 – 22 July 2023) was an English traditional pop singer, best known for his cover version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune "Edelweiss" (1967), which reached No. 2 on the UK singles chart. He recorded 25 studio albums and several soundtracks, wrote songs and plays and hosted TV shows during the 1970s and 1980s, and earned a national and international reputation through hit records and sold–out performances at some of the world’s most prestigious concert venues such as the Sydney Opera House, London’s Royal Albert Hall and the London Palladium.

Vince Hill was born in Holbrooks, Coventry. He first sang professionally in a public house named The Prospect in Margate, Kent, when he was 17 years old. He decided to become a full-time musician after working as a baker, truck driver and coal miner. His first opportunity as a singer came when he read an advert in Melody Maker magazine, which said that the Band of the Royal Corps of Signals needed a vocalist. He travelled to Catterick camp in Yorkshire where the band was based, performed the audition, and gained the job. This offered Hill a way to undertake his National Service as well as experience performing across the world. After completing his military service, he toured with the musical Florodora, and later became a singer with Teddy Foster's Band, a big band based in London. At the beginning of the 1960s Hill joined a British vocal group, the Raindrops, which gave him his first opportunity to perform in television and radio shows, especially on the BBC radio show Parade of the Pops. The Raindrops also had in its ranks Jackie Lee, Len Beadle and Johnny Worth.

                                    

By late 1961, Hill left The Raindrops for a fledgling solo career. His debut entry in the UK Singles Chart was the Les Vandyke penned "The River's Run Dry", which went to No. 41 in June 1962. In 1963, he participated in A Song for Europe, the UK heat of the Eurovision Song Contest, with another Vandyke-penned song, "A Day at the Seaside". The next few years proved fallow, as a succession of single releases failed to reach the chart. 

In January 1965, Hill was offered an international recording contract with the EMI group, which signed him to their Columbia label. His first Top 20 chart success with his new label came a year later with "Take Me to Your Heart Again", Hill's cover of the Édith Piaf hit "La Vie En Rose", which climbed to No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart in 1966 and No. 18 on the RPM chart in Canada. "Roses of Picardy", composed during the First World War, was another Top 20 success, reaching No. 13 in mid 1967.

Further notable songs that he recorded included "Heartaches" (No. 28, 1966), "Merci Cherie" (written by the Austrian singer Udo Jürgens), which was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, (No. 36, 1966), "Love Letters in the Sand" (No. 23, 1967), "The Importance of Your Love" (music by Gilbert Bécaud, English lyrics by Norman Newell) and "Look Around (And You'll Find Me There)". The latter track, taken from the soundtrack to the film Love Story, was his final Top 20 hit, peaking at No. 12 in the latter half of 1971. His most successful hit was his cover recording of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song "Edelweiss", from their 1959 musical The Sound of Music. The recording was a No. 2 hit on the UK Singles Chart in March 1967. It was to become his signature tune for the rest of his career, which saw him top the bill at the London Palladium and Talk of the Town. His album Edelweiss was also a hit for EMI Columbia.

Although known mainly for his voice, Hill was also a songwriter and composed many songs with his musical director Ernie Dunstall. These were used on his studio albums and flip sides to his singles of the day. The Dunstall-Hill composition "Why Or Where Or When" was also recorded by Mr. Lee Grant and topped the New Zealand chart in 1968, while "I Never Did As I Was Told" was covered by Broadway star Robert Goulet in 1971. Hill's song "I'm Gonna Make It", sung by Joe Cuddy, was the overall winner of the 1973 Castlebar Song Contest. Hill's long-term recording contract with EMI Columbia came to an end in 1974, by which time he had released 14 studio albums and countless singles. In the following year he signed to a new recording deal with CBS Records, for whom he released a further three studio albums of contemporary song material. Hill also continued to perform regularly in clubs, cabaret and various stage productions. He also hosted his own prime-time television show in Canada called Vince Hill At The Club, which also aired in the US.

Vince and Annie

From the 1980s onwards, Hill concentrated mainly on his live performances and continued to play all the top venues around the world, including the London Palladium, Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House and Talk of the Town, as well as appearing on cruise ships. He would also continue to make guest appearances on popular television shows of the day, such as The Golden Shot, Seaside Special, Rainbow, The Good Old Days, 3-2-1, Blankety Blank and Cash in the Attic. In 1982, Hill added acting to his CV, in the BBC radio drama, Tolpuddle (which he also wrote). In 1990, Hill took to the stage to play Ivor Novello in the stage play My Dearest Ivor. Hill also wrote the stage musical, Zodiac. His stage acting continued, including a starring role as The Cowardly Lion in an adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of The Wizard Of Oz.

In 2004, Hill was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent successful keyhole surgery. A year later, following a routine blood test, it was discovered he also had chronic myeloid leukaemia. Following extensive treatment, the illness was brought under control. His autobiography, Another Hill to Climb (Bank House Books), written in collaboration with Nick Charles, was released in 2010. Hill came out of semi-retirement in April 2012 to make a successful return to the stage for one night only in which he performed in a big band night at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. Hill said, "It was an absolute success — we sold out and I got a standing ovation. At that point, I just thought, "I've finished, that'll do me." In 2009, the Vince and his wife Annie celebrated their golden wedding anniversary and invited 130 friends to their home for a party. In 2014, he lost his only son Atholl and in 2016, Vince’s beloved wife Annie passed away from a degenerative lung condition.

Hill came out of retirement again in March 2018, when he returned to the stage in The Good Old Days of Variety at the Cast in Doncaster. Later that year, in September, Hill appeared in his 'Final Farewell Show' at the Kenton Theatre in Henley-on-Thames. Hill became a Patron of the Macular Society in October 2010. Hill suffered from AMD (age-related macular degeneration) from 2011; this was a major reason for his reluctantly retiring from live performances. In August 2021, it was revealed via Twitter that Hill had recently suffered a stroke. Hill died peacefully at his home in Henley-on-Thames on 22 July 2023, at the age of 89.

(Edited from Wikipedia & Beat Magazine)

Ginette Acevedo born 15 April 1942

Ginette Acevedo (born April 15, 1942), is a Chilean singer, who won the Viña del Mar International Song Festival twice: the international genre in 1964 and the folkloric genre in 1971. 

Born Mirna Jinett Acevedo Palma in San Fernando, Colchagua, Chile. Due to work of her father, a soldier assigned to the Infantry School, the family moved from San Fernando to San Bernardo when Ginette was two years old. It was in that commune of Greater Santiago that she developed all her school studies and began to be interested in singing. Like almost all performers of her generation, her first stage was on the radio. Every Sunday morning her voice could be heard in "La revista postal telegráfica", on Radio Minería. Ginette had recently turned 18 and still considered singing as a hobby. She had no studies on the subject and clung to what experts described as a "naturally imposed" register. Her early repertoire was New Wave hits, and imports from American balladeers, such as Connie Francis and Brenda Lee.

Ginette was then inspired by the Argentinian folk singer Ramona Galarza. "The cadence of the songs was very much in line with my way of singing," she recalled,  who in 1963 recorded her first single, the guarania "No quiero ser", and immediately established herself as one of the new successful young voices in the country, capable of crossing generations with a combination of freshness and tradition. That song spent nine months at the top of the radio ranking and was chosen the best of the year by disc jockeys and the press. Four other hits by Argentine composers followed: "La canción del Jangadero", the strumming double "Puente Pexoa" and "Collar de caracolas", and the guarania "Anahí".

                        Here's "El Jangadero" from above LP

                                   

After marrying her manager, the well-known show producer Luciano Galleguillos, the singer travelled to Buenos Aires in 1964, determined to make a professional space for herself among Argentines. It was hard work, which forced her to an intense promotion in the provinces, but which soon distinguished her with great radio and even film appearances. From the end of 1964, Ginette Acevedo continued her career in Argentina, where she was presented as "The sweet voice of America", achieving her definitive professionalization and Latin American projection, and becoming the cover of the prestigious magazine Folklore. 

One her greatest successes at the time was the recording she made for Ramón Ayala's musicalization of Pablo Neruda's "Poema 20". "Many could not believe that I was Chilean, more than anything because of the repertoire I sang. It was assumed for a long time that I was an Argentine singer," she recalls. In addition to releasing albums and promoting herself through extensive tours, she was summoned in 1967 to participate in two musical films: Pichones de hombre and Chao, amor. 

In 1967, she participated in three television programs in Buenos Aires: "Telemúsica", hosted by Raúl Matas; "Argentina canta y baila", where she was part of the stable cast along with Atahualpa Yupanqui, Eduardo Falú and Los Fronterizos; and "Domingo 67", in which she was the main figure. She also worked in radio and performed in up to six dance clubs weekly, but with a failing marriage and the death of her father, she suffered from a mixture of stress and depression, and she saw no greater future for a musical activity that at that point only produced tension for her. She decided to give up her professional promotion in Argentina and return to Santiago. Acevedo returned to Chile in the mid-1970s, and wrote a farewell letter to her admirers that was published in Ritmo magazine. She believed that with it she had closed her musical career forever.

It was her friend Palmenia Pizarro who convinced her to return to the stage. With the argument that "I couldn't be so irresponsible as abandoning my fans like that," Acevedo recalls, Palmenia took her to the Philips label, where a song that Óscar Cáceres and Luis Barragán had composed with her voice in mind was waiting for her. It was called "La torcacita", and it told the story of the despair of a man immersed in heartbreak. For the singer, the song touched chords very close to her recent emotional depression. After rehearsals and arrangements, the song won the folkloric section of the 1971 Viña Festival and is to this day the most popular in his repertoire. The song was later included on the album Ginette (1972).

After a couple of years of intense work, a second retirement took place this time because of her new marriage and her decision to settle down to family life after the birth of their first child. In 1977, the top brass of the Channel 13 stars came to her house to convince her to return to television, to Gonzalo Bertran's program "Esta noche fiesta". It was the first of several television slots that had her presence since then and for almost all of the eighties. From that period, her most important album was Mujeres de Chile (1979), a work composed by Willy Bascuñán of which the song "Mujer en el tiempo" stood out. Despite her constant presence on television, self-management was the only channel of work for Ginette Acevedo during that time. Without a record contract, from 1982 she herself looked for a way to publish and distribute her own recordings. 

At the end of 2003, the singer decided to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the appearance of her first single with a concert at the Providencia Theater in the capital, in which Palmenia Pizarro also participated. Until well into the 2000s, Ginette Acevedo has remained active in a constant dynamic of live performances and self-releases. Among the latter, the duet album with Valentín Trujillo Desde el alma (2012), recorded only with piano and voice, stands out. Together with composer Julio Zegers, she was recognized by the Chilean Society of Musical Authors and Performers (SCD) as a "fundamental figure of Chilean music" in 2022.

(Edited from Musical Popular, Chile) 

D.L. Menard born 14 April 1932

D.L. Menard (April 14, 1932 – July 27, 2017) was an American songwriter, performer, and recording artist in contemporary Cajun music. He was called the "Cajun Hank Williams".

Doris Leon, the only son of Ophy Menard and his wife, Helena Primeaux Menard, members of a farming family, was born outside Erath in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Most musicians from deep Cajun country are raised on the traditional sounds of accordion and fiddle and keening French love songs, but DL came to the music late; he didn’t hear a Cajun band until he was 16. What he listened to first was hardcore country songs by Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell and Ernest Tubb, borne on the airwaves from station XERA in Del Rio, Texas. 

When the family radio died, he had to wait for the next cotton crop to provide cash for a new battery. Hearing an uncle’s band practising, he fell in love with the guitar, ordered one from a mail-order catalogue, learned some chords, bought a better guitar, and played his first dance job with accordionist Elias Badeaux and his Louisiana Aces. Joining the band in 1952, he initially sang country songs, but in the revival of Cajun music during the 50s he started singing in French. 

                                   

In time, he also began song writing. “The band had this pretty waltz that didn’t have words to it, so I made up some.” They called it La Valse de Jolly Roger, after a dancehall where they played, recorded it in 1961 for Floyd Soileau’s Swallow label and had some local success. The following year they made another record, a rueful song about a loser’s life called La Porte en Arrière – The Back Door.

“The story came to me all at once,” DL told the Cajun historian Barry Jean Ancelet, “but I was working in a service station. It took only a few minutes to write it down, but they were stretched out over a long afternoon. I based the tune on Hank Williams’ Honky Tonk Blues, changed it some, and made up words in French. It’s about having to come in through the back door. Lots of people could identify with that.” Three days after it was released, the band played at the Jolly Roger and had to perform the song seven times. It would stay with DL for the rest of his life. His wife Lou Ella (nee Abshire), whom he married in 1951, told him that if he went on stage and didn’t sing it, it was like not going on at all. Soileau boasts that it has taken over from Jolie Blonde as the Cajun national anthem.

The Louisiana Aces disbanded in 1967, but the 1973 National Folk Festival in Washington seemed to open doors again. “After we played our last song,” DL remembered, “the people gave us a standing ovation. If you had given me a million dollars cash, I would not have felt better.” There was an Aces reunion LP in 1974, followed in 1976 by the magnificent LP Under the Green Oak Tree with two other Cajun master musicians, the fiddler Dewey Balfa and accordionist Marc Savoy. 

In the company of other folk musicians, Menard went on State Department tours of South America, the Middle East and east Asia. By then he had quit the service station and, looking for an occupation that left more time for music, had settled on chair-making. He and Lou Ella, who was skilled at caning (weaving) chair seats and backs, opened a small chair factory in Erath, and DL was now invited to folk festivals as both musician and craftsman.

In 1984 he was offered his dream session: a programme of his own and Hank Williams’ songs, accompanied by members of Williams’ Drifting Cowboys and Ricky Skaggs. “DL doesn’t imitate Hank,” Skaggs wrote in the sleeve notes to Cajun Saturday Night, “but he has that bottom-of-the-heart sincerity that Hank had, so people tend to remember Hank when DL sings.”

In the late 80s and 90s he joined fiddler Ken Smith and accordionist Eddie Lejeune to play classic Cajun songs and tunes. They were warmly received on several tours of France and the UK, made the albums Cajun Soul and Le Trio Cadien, and collaborated on DL’s 1988 album No Matter Where You At, There You Are, a characteristic mixture of Cajun tradition, Hank Williams-style honkytonk and original songs by DL such as La Pompe Du Puits (The Water Pump, literally a well pump).

In 1993, his album Le Trio Cadien was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Folk Album category. In 1994 DL received a National Heritage Fellowship award, in 2009 he was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, along with Jo-El Sonnier, Doug Kershaw, and Jimmy C. Newman and in 2010 his album Happy Go Lucky secured a Grammy nomination. 

Throughout his career, Menard held performances in more than 30 countries and served as a good-will ambassador for Cajun culture. He gave his last public performance in July at an event in Erath celebrating the 55th anniversary of The Back Door. Menard, and his wife Lou Ella, had seven children, leading to 17 grandchildren, and 27 great-grandchildren. Lou Ella died in 2011. DL died at age 85 on July 27, 2017, in Scott, Louisiana.

(Edited from Guardian obit by Tony Rusell & Wikipedia) 

Wade Ray born 13 April 1913

Wade Ray (April 13, 1913– November 11, 1998) was an American Western Swing fiddler and vocalist. His bands, the Wade Ray Five, Wade Ray And His Ozark Mountain Boys, etc., included musicians such as Kenneth Carllile and Curly Chalker.

Fiddler Wade Ray made his name playing traditional country and Western swing from a very young age but made very few recordings of his own over his lengthy career. Born Lyman Wade Ray in Evansville, Indiana, he grew up in Boynton, AR, and at age four began playing a homemade fiddle his father fashioned from a cigar box. Just a year later, he was touring the vaudeville circuit as the World's Youngest Violin Player; he also learned to play tenor banjo and remained a vaudeville regular until his 18th birthday in 1931. 

A keen collector of fiddles, Wade amassed over a hundred in a short period of time and by the time he was 18 had a collection of over a hundred. He then moved to St. Louis and spent the next 12 years as the fiddler, singer, and musical director for Pappy Cheshire's Western swing group, the National Champion Hillbillies, who performed locally as well as having a regular radio slot on station KMOX. Wade was then called to serve in the Army in 1943.

Upon his return, he joined Patsy Montana's group the Prairie Ramblers for several years, also recording with the Ozark Mountain Boys. He moved to Los Angeles in 1949, where he became a regular on The Rex Allen Show and appeared in the film Hollywood. Wade Ray has the distinction of being the first performer to play with an electric fiddle.

                                    

Wade's recording carer as a solo performer kicked off in 1949 when he signed for the Paramount label, although this association was short-lived and by 1951 he had switched to the RCA label and released a total of 23 singles from 1951 to 1957, none of which charted. In 1954 Wade cut the proto-rockabilly number "Idaho Red" which was one of the all time great road songs and still a hot favourite in clubs today. Other recordings from this period included the equally good 'It's All Your Fault' and 'Cuddle Bug'. 

He made a good living appearing regularly at the "Cow Town", a legendary western night club in Los Angeles, and played frequent gigs in various Nevada resort towns; he also appeared regularly on The Roy Rogers Show and The Ernest Tubb Show. He moved to Nashville and did session work in the mid-'60s and also recorded his first solo album, A Ray of Country Sun, for ABC-Paramount in 1966. RCA Camden released Walk Softly (And Other Country Songs) later that year, and in 1967 Ray collaborated with the likes of Homer & Jethro, Sonny Osborne, and Hargus "Pig" Robbins on Down Yonder: The Country Fiddlers. He also managed the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, 1967-1970.

He continued his session work until 1979, when he retired to Sparta, Illinois where he continued playing "for fun" and supporting the annual 'Wade Ray Fiddle Contest' which continues to this day. Wade continued playing until 1997. He performed with a local radio station's road show until health problems made it impossible, with his final performance being alongside Willie Nelson. He passed away on November 11, 1998 and was laid to rest at Ellis Grove City Cemetery, Illinois.

(Edited from AllMusic, his Is My Story & Hill-Billy Music) 

Anamari (Anna Schofield) born 1940

Anna Schofield ( aka Anamari) (born 1940 - November, 3, 2010) was an underappreciated female jazz and ballad singer, who would have remained in obscurity but for her only recording: an album from 1964 which is often overlooked.

Born Anna Schofield, in Norwich, New York, in 1940, she attended Norwich High School and the University of Toronto. Having entered university at the age of 16, she found a home in the world of performing arts and soon made her way to Greenwich Village and the life that awaited her. Like many before, she went to New York to discover a side of herself that had yet to blossom and perhaps to follow the elusive muse that drew her to a life of song and the introspective, beautiful power of music. Quoted in 1963 in an article about her music Anna said, “I’ve only begun to understand why I sing. While singing has always been important, its import grows incessantly. Now, I must sing.”

      Here's "Ballad Of The Sad Young men" from above album

                                  

It’s little surprise that only a year later, in 1964, she released her first album on the Atlantic label. Entitled Anamari, it was produced by Nesushi Ertegun, the famed co-founder of Atlantic Records and was a hauntingly unique example of jazz balladry, a courageous work in that there was no attempt to hide from the intensity of these ballads. The public respected that directness, and combined with her “total involvement in” and the “uncharged uniqueness” of her performances, her success grew. She toured the country and performed internationally, but was renowned in the jazz clubs of New York City. Particularly important gigs were held at The Village Gate and Gypsy’s and she was often accompanied by some of the most revered jazz musicians of the day, including Jim Hall, Art Framer and Clark Terry.

Norwich

In 1974, her daughter Alana was born and while continuing to sing and work, Anna focused much of her attention on raising her child, while being the go-to person for her family in Norwich and her circle of friends in New York. Always searching and learning, versed in many disciplines from electric engineering to accounting to health and nutrition, Anna was a source of wisdom, humour, family history and not-so-common sense information for many friends and loved ones. In the 1990’s she returned to Norwich to care for her mother and spent much time in the place she referred to, only half-jokingly, as Brigadoon. An inventor of specialty cocktails like the “Hot Edy,” she even titles a favourite one “the Brigadoon” in honour of her home in the valley. Anna enjoyed her herb garden and her cats and was an unbelievable whiz at crossword puzzles and impossible sudokus, but it was her love of music and of her daughter and family that guided her throughout.

Anna Schofield passed on November 3, 2010 aged 70.

Quoting from her liner notes of one of her albums, “Her performances are always marked by a dignity and originality; and perhaps the most illusive quality of all – honesty – which is a hard quality to come by in a world so predisposed to artificiality.” 

(Edited from obit @ Wilson Funeral Home)

Bonnie Nelson born 11 April 1949

Bonnie Nelson (born April 11, 1949) is a top Country singer and entertainer who left the business to become an ordained Minister.

Bonnie Nelson was born in Denver, Colorado. She attended the Douglas County High School, where she was a cheerleader, graduating in 1967. While growing up in Colorado she began performing in talent contests, stage productions and benefits. She took an interest in singing and in 1963 began appearing in small night clubs with performers Lucky Lee and Johnny Cummings. From there she went on to appear as a regular for over a year on the Rocky Mountain Jamboree, which was broadcast on radio KLAK. 

At the age of 16 she appeared at the famous Wolhurst Country Club in Colorado with Willie Hartzel and Jerry Baake. She also appeared on numerous TV specials for the “Centekor Drug Benefit,” and two live shows for "Country Western Style." In 1967 she won the World Champion Senior Girls Calf Roper title and that same year won Miss Colorado High School Queen. During that time she would appear with many national country stars and also with Colorado’s country singer/guitar player Jerry Street as well as Denver’s Band Box label recording artists Jim McGraw and Dewey Knight. In 1965 she would team up with Ralph Achilles and Frank Bruen as a trio in Nevada. While there she appeared with the Phil Harris Trio.

                                    

In 1967 she won the World Champion Senior Girls Calf Roper title and that same year won Miss Colorado High School Queen. Bonnie’s father, Roy Nelson, built the Country Palace to showcase the talents of his daughte. In 1972 Bonnie and singing partner Bob Britton and his backing band “The Playboys” won the “Pappy Dave Stone Talent Contest” sponsored by radio station KPIK in Colorado Springs. That would earn the duo the prize of appearing on Nashville’s “Grand Ole Opry on September 1st, 1972. Nashville record executive Kelso Herston  with United Artists Records (Nashville Division) was duly impressed and would sign Bonnie to a 5-year contract. 

Her first record "Got Me a Feelin " won her wide acclaim. More singles followed and then an album "Meet Bonnie Nelson." In 1975 Bonnie was inducted into the Colorado Hall of Fame by the Country Music Foundation of Colorado. She organised a fan club with nearly 900 members and became a radio spokeswoman for the International Harvester Co.  Her singing and road reports were appreciated by many truckers and night listeners all over the United States and even in Canada which gave her the nickname "The Transtar Rose". 

She was also renowned for having a bus customised by Custom Coach Industries who equipped it with all home necessities. While in Nashville Bonnie would meet and perform with a long line of artists including Del Reeves, Freddie Hart, George Morgan, Rex Allen, Bob Hope, George Strait to name a few, as well as headlining her own shows, traveling all across the US, Canada and Germany. She recorded several albums and videos during her career and enjoyed Commercial endorsements with International Trucks, The Tony Lama Boot Company and The Shure Sound Company.

From thereon, Bonnie continued to perform in various clubs, restaurants and many other venues (too numerous to mention) up to 1997 when she left country to joined the Firestorm Ministry and became an Ordained Minister. She now teaches on ground at her home church, Victory Christian Centre, Murfreesboro, Tennessee and online, where she sings and leads praise and worship. 

(Edited from kimsloans.wordpress.com, Album liner notes & Firestorm Ministry)