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)