Becky Hobbs (born Rebecca A. Hobbs, January 24, 1950)[1][2] is an American country singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has recorded several studio albums and has charted multiple singles on the BillboardHot Country Songs charts, including the 1983 top-10 hit "Let's Get Over Them Together," a duet with Moe Bandy.[3]
Hobbs wrote the music and lyrics for the 2011 musical Nanyehi: The Story of Nancy Ward, which is based upon the life of her fifth-great-grandmother Nancy Ward.[7]
Life & career
Hobbs is a native of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.[5] She began playing the piano and writing her own songs when she was nine years old.[4][8] Her early musical influences included Jerry Lee Lewis and big band and country music.[2] As an adolescent, Hobbs played with two Bartlesville-based boy bands, Epicurean Time Machine and Undetermined Mud.[9] When she was 15 years old, she started her own all-female rock band.[4] The band, called the Four Faces of Eve, was the first all-female rock band in Oklahoma[8][9] and played on the KOTV show Dance Party.[9] Hobbs later participated in an all-girl band contest, sponsored by Tulsa, Oklahoma, radio station KAKC, that resulted in her joining a band called Sir Prize Package and playing in the Tulsa area for a few years. Later on, Hobbs was invited to join the band Swampfox in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; she was the group's sole female member. She decided to drive to Los Angeles, accompanied by bandmate Lewis Anderson, to pursue a career as a solo artist.[4][9]
In California, Hobbs became acquainted with Kim Fowley, who gave her a $250 advance for her song "Paradise Is in Your Mind." Fowley also invited Hobbs to join an all-female band that became known as The Runaways, but she declined.[9]Helen Reddy began recording Hobbs' songs in 1974, which marked Hobbs' first major recordings.[4] "Ain't None of Your Business," a song Hobbs cowrote with Anderson, was covered by Detective on their debut album in 1977.[10]Kiss had also recorded the song around this time, but it was not available commercially until the 45th-anniversary edition of Destroyer was released in 2021.[11][12]
As a recording artist, Hobbs has had over 20 chart records. She has given concerts in over 40 countries.[5]
Hobbs' husband, Duane Sciacqua, is also a musician, who has performed with her live.[9]
Hobbs is a member of the Indian Women's Pocahontas Club.[14]
Nanyehi
Hobbs grew up listening to stories about Nancy Ward, her fifth-great-grandmother who was also known as Nanyehi, a Beloved Woman and political leader of the Cherokee. In 1993, She began writing songs (including "Let There Be Peace" and "Pale Moon") to honor her ancestor, intending to record them on one of her albums.[8]
In 2007, Hobbs performed at the Bartlesville Centennial Celebration, where she met playwright Nick Sweet. The two began discussing writing a musical based on the life of Nancy Ward.[4] Hobbs ended up writing or co-writing each of the 18 songs in the resulting musical, Nanyehi: The Story of Nancy Ward.[8] She later recorded these songs on her 2011 solo album Nanyehi: Beloved Woman of the Cherokee.
The musical Nanyehi: The Story of Nancy Ward premiered in Hartwell, Georgia in 2013. The musical was produced by David Webb.[15] As of 2024, the musical has been produced and performed live in thirteen separate productions in Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.[7]Wes Studi joined the cast of the 2024 production at Hard Rock Live Tulsa, playing the role of Attakullakulla.[5]
Hobbs also directed and co-wrote the 2016 short film Nanyehi. The film was shot entirely within the Cherokee Nation, and featured a cast of 44 actors, most of whom are Cherokee Nation citizens.[16][17] Additional co-writers included Holly Rice (who had previously shot footage of the April 2015 production of the musical in Greenville, Texas)[15] and Nick Sweet, while Duane Sciacqua scored the film.[14] David Webb returned to produce the film.[15]Nanyehi was showcased at the 2018 Circle Cinema Film Festival in Tulsa,[18] the 2019 Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival,[19] and the 2019 Will Rogers Tribute at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum.[14] The film was the recipient of several industry awards (including the Native American Vision Award) and was inducted into the Oklahoma Movie Hall of Fame in 2019.[16][17]
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