Born in Grand Forks, North Dakota on September 26, 1947, Lynn Anderson was a country music singer best known for her hit “Rose Garden.” Growing up in Fair Oaks, California, she showed an interest in music at the age of six. Moving to a nearby ranch in Sacramento, her family raised horses and she learned to ride and then began entering equestrian competitions. After appearing alongside her mother at a Nashville, Tennessee event, she signed her first contract with Chart Records in 1966 and had her first Top 10 hit with 1967’s "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away ).” “Ride, Ride, Ride,” which was written by her mother, was another early hit. Her career received a big boost when she was cast as the first country music performer to be featured regularly on popular television variety series The Lawrence Welk Show. After leaving the television show in 1968, Lynn Anderson released a series of singles and albums, but was finding it difficult to break through, commercially. After hearing a song on a Joe South album called “Rose Garden,” she struggled to convince her label to let her record it. However, she finally had her way and the 1970 single became an international hit, charting in 15 countries and becoming one of the biggest selling country music singles in 1970 and 1971. The song became a crossover hit, climbing high on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart as well. Lynn Anderson continued to release singles and albums throughout the ‘70s, but her popularity began to decline by the end of the decade. She still remained a recording artist but also took a stab at acting on television. She began to have issues with record labels in the 1980s and signed with a series of independent labels without much success. Lynn Anderson also began to make tabloid news when her battles with alcoholism became public. However, she attempted to turn her life around and focus on her singing career again. Shortly after the release of her album Bridges, Lynn Anderson died of cardiac arrest on July 30, 2015. She was 67 years old.
