Holly Dunn

Holly Suzette Dunn (born on August 22, 1957) was an American country singer-songwriter and one of the most beloved voices in the genre. Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, Dunn moved to Nashville right after graduating from college to try her luck in the music industry, following her brother’s footsteps. She was signed to MTM records and released her debut singles “Playing for Keeps” and “My Heart Holds On” in 1985, both of which became minor hits. Dunn had her breakthrough moment in 1986 with her eponymous studio debut and the single “Daddy’s Hands,” which peaked at Number 7 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The album’s success earned Dunn a Top New Female Vocalist award by the Academy of Country Music and a Horizon award as well. Hot on the heels of her debut, she delivered a one-two punch with Cornerstone (1987) and Across the Rio Grande (1988), with the former getting three singles into the Country Top Ten singles list: “Love Someone Like Me,” “Only When I Love,” and “Strangers Again.” The Blue Rose of Texas (1989), her first album for Warner Brothers, featured guest appearances by Dolly Parton and Joe Diffie, and earned Dunn her first Number 1 country single with “Are You Ever Gonna Love Me.” Although Heart Full of Love (1990) did not fare as well as its predecessor, Dunn still managed to get a Number 1 single with “You Really Had Me Going,” which topped Billboard’s US Hot Country Songs chart. Following the commercial failure of Getting It Dunn (1992), she released two albums via River North Records: Life and Love and All the Stages (1995), which spawned the single “I Am Who I Am,” and Leave One Bridge Standing (1997). In 2003, Dunn simultaneously announced her retirement and the release of the gospel-influenced Full Circle, her final album. In subsequent years, Dunn fully devoted herself to her art, before succumbing to ovarian cancer in 2016.

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