Wanda Jackson

One of the first female artists to mix country music with rock'n'roll, Wanda Jackson created a unique niche for herself as "the first lady of rockabilly". Such is her reputation as one of America's heritage artist that younger musicians have been strongly influenced by her, and Jack White of White Stripes even collaborated with her on her 2011 album The Party Ain't Over. Jackson was given her first guitar by her father, who also took her to see Bob Wills, a concert that left a lasting impression on her. She won a local talent contest in Oklahoma when she was 11 which led to her own radio show. Hank Thompson heard it and invited her to join his band, the Brazos Valley Boys, who had a Number 8 country hit in 1954 with You Can't Have My Love, featuring Jackson duetting with Billy Gray. She subsequently toured with Elvis Presley - who she also dated for a while - and released a series of singles mixing country and rock'n'roll in a style that came to be known as rockabilly. She had a major hit in 1959 with Let's Have A Party, started writing her Top 40 hits Right Or Wrong and In The Middle Of A Heartache, and then recorded a series of purer country albums; but returned to rockabilly in 2003 with Heart Trouble, her first studio album for over 20 years, featuring Elvis Costello, The Cramps and Rosie Flores. In 2005 Amy LaVere played Wanda in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line and her star shone once again when the Jack White produced The Party Ain't Over album (2011) introduced her to a new audience.

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