Singer, arranger, producer, conductor, and pianist Anita Kerr - born Anita Grilli in Memphis, Tennessee on October 13, 1927 - was a musical Renaissance woman. She moved to Nashville in 1948 with her husband Al Kerr and led and arranged a choir for a local radio station. The Anita Kerr Singers then went on to record on many country music hits in the 1950s including recordings by Eddy Arnold, Ernest Tubb, Burl Ives, and many others. After winning a contest on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, the group moved to New York to appear with Godfrey on his TV and radio programs. The Anita Kerr Singers continued to provide vocals for major country artists like Patsy Cline, Faron Young, Chet Atkins, and Webb Pierce. They were given the opportunity to record their own sessions and scored a hit in 1960 with “Forever.” Signing with RCA Records in 1961, The Anita Kerr Singers recorded the country music oriented From Nashville…The Hit Sound (1962) but would later expand their repertoire to include covers of soul, pop, and rock hits. They won a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal group for their 1965 album We Dig Mancini. Even though they were releasing their own albums, Anita Kerr and her singers continued to provide backing vocals on recordings by Perry Como, Pat Boone, Brenda Lee, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Hank Snow, Ann-Margret, and many others. After divorcing her husband, Anita Kerr relocated to Los Angeles, California in order to expand her musical horizons with a new version of her singers. They recorded several albums for Warner Bros. Records and won a Grammy Award for their recording of the song “A Man and a Woman.” Anita Kerr also recorded several songs with the San Sebastian Strings and poet/singer Rod McKuen. She then moved over to Dot Records and recorded her own music as well as producing and arranging music for other artists. The Anita Kerr Singers also recorded commercial jingles for different radio stations as well as memorable radio ads for various companies. In 1970, Anita Kerr moved to Switzerland and restarted The Anita Kerr Singers using British talent. She and her second husband bought Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, but sold it to the group Queen in 1979. Anita Kerr continued to record and perform until 1988. She died on October 10, 2022, just three days shy of her 95th birthday.
