Dottie West – born Dorothy Marsh on October 11, 1932, in Frog Pond, Tennessee - was an influential country music singer-songwriter who achieved her greatest chart successes later in her career. Influenced by country music at a young age, she married and moved to Ohio where she began making appearances on local TV in the late 1950s. Signing to Starday Records in 1959, her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, but did not achieve success with the label. Dottie West signed to RCA Victor in 1963 and by the following year, she scored a Top 10 country hit with “Here Comes My Baby,” which also won her a Grammy Award. She continued to score hits during the mid-to-late 1960s, collaborating with Don Gibson on two Top 10 singles in 1969: “Rings of Gold” and “There’s a Story (Goin’ ‘Round)”. A popular artist on the country music charts – and a mentor to many up and coming female country singers – Dottie West found it difficult to cross over into the pop charts, although she did score a Top 50 hit with “Country Sunshine.” However, she finally crossed over when she collaborated with Kenny Rogers in 1978 with the singles “Every Time Two Fools Collide” and “Anyone Who Isn’t Me Tonight.” The duo also scored two more hits in 1979 with “All I Ever Need is You” and “Til I Can Make It on My Own.” The duo had one more hit duet with 1981’s “What Are We Doing in Love,” which was a number 1 hit on the country singles chart. More popular than ever, she scored another number 1 country single in 1980 with “A Lesson in Leavin’,” a single that also made the Hot 100. However, by 1985, she was finding it difficult to even make the Top 40 on the country chart. She began to perform occasional shows with her daughter Shelly West, who had a successful career in country music by this time. By 1990, Dottie West had declared bankruptcy and was struggling to rebuild her career. On August 30, 1991, she was being driven to the Grand Ole Opry to perform, and the driver took the exit too fast and hit an embankment. She initially survived the impact, but during surgery on September 4, 1991, her heart stopped, and she could not be revived. Dottie West was dead at the age of 58.
