A honky-tonk is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano used to play such music. Bars of this kind are common in the South and Southwest United States. Many prominent country music artists such as Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Horton and Merle Haggard began their careers as amateur musicians in honky-tonks.
Pierre Dewey LaFontaine Jr., known professionally as Pete Fountain, was an American jazz clarinetist.
Loretta Lynn was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill", "Blue Kentucky Girl", "Love Is the Foundation", "You're Lookin' at Country", "You Ain't Woman Enough", "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl", "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' ", "One's on the Way", "Fist City", and "Coal Miner's Daughter". The 1980 musical film Coal Miner's Daughter was based on her life.
Polly Adelaide Hendricks Hazelwood, known professionally as Del Wood, was an American pianist.
Una Winifred Atwell was a British pianist, born in the colony of Trinidad who migrated to Britain and who enjoyed great popularity in Britain and Australia from the 1950s with a series of boogie-woogie and ragtime hits, selling over 20 million records. She was the first black artist to have a number-one hit in the UK Singles Chart and had the first piano instrumental to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart, with “Let's Have Another Party” in 1954, and as of 2023, remains the only female instrumentalist to do so.
The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 to 1971, followed by 11 years in first-run syndication from 1971 to 1982. Repeat episodes are broadcast in the United States by PBS stations. These airings incorporate an original program — usually, a color broadcast from 1965 to 1982 — in its entirety. In place of the commercials, newer performance and interview clips from the original stars and/or a family member of the performers are included; these clips are occasionally updated.
The Lennon Sisters are an American vocal group that has been made up, at one time or another, of three or four sisters. The quartet originally consisted of Dianne, Peggy, Kathy, and Janet.
Ellen Muriel Deason, known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier for women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", which also made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts and turned her into the first female country superstar. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” would also be her first of several pop crossover hits. Wells is the only artist to be awarded top female vocalist awards for 14 consecutive years. Her chart-topping hits continued until the mid-1960s, paving the way for and inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.
Mirriam Johnson, known professionally as Jessi Colter, is an American country singer who is best known for her collaborations with her second husband, country musician Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 crossover hit "I'm Not Lisa".
Cathy Lee Crosby is an American actress and former professional tennis player. She achieved TV and film success in the 1980s and was a co-host of the television series That's Incredible!
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J. D. "Jay" Miller, and recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life." First performed by Al Montgomery as "Did God Make Honky Tonk Angels" on the Feature label which was owned by songwriter J.D. Miller.
Ralna Eve English is an American-born singer from Haskell, Texas. She gained fame as half of the husband-and-wife singing duo of Guy & Ralna with then-husband Guy Hovis, both of whom were featured performers on The Lawrence Welk Show.
Ava Marlene Barber is an American country music singer and performer. She is best remembered for her performances on The Lawrence Welk Show throughout much of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard, was an American country singer who was considered by many writers and authors to be one of the genre's first significant female artists. Her early successes during the 1950s decade were said to influence the future careers of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette.
Dudley "Big Tiny" Little, Jr. was an American musician who appeared on The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1959. His primary instrument was the piano.
"You're Lookin' at Country" is a country music song written and made famous by Loretta Lynn in 1971. The song peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and reached #1 on the Canada Country Tracks chart on RPM.
Michaela Maree Gehrmann, who performs as Micky Green, is an Australian-born blues and pop singer-songwriter. Green left home at the age of 18 years to work in modelling but has mainly concentrated on her music career. At the age of 21 Green relocated to Paris, France. Her debut album White T-Shirt was released there on 27 August 2007, which peaked at No. 12 on the French Albums Chart. Her second album, Honky Tonk, appeared on 18 January 2010, and reached the top 40. Her most popular single, "Oh!", was issued in May 2008 and peaked at No. 12 on the French Singles Chart. As a model Green has worked for Christian Dior and Diesel but by 2010 she had "all but quit modelling".
Bobbie Lee Nelson was an American pianist and singer, the elder sister of Willie Nelson, and a member of his band, Willie Nelson and Family. When she was five, her grandmother taught her to play keyboards with a pump organ, and after successful appearances at gospel conventions held in Hillsboro, Texas, her grandfather bought her a piano.
Willie "Jay" Lee Webb was an American country music singer. He is known for his 1967 song, "I Come Home A-Drinkin' ", which was written as an "answer song" to his older sister Loretta Lynn's No. 1 1967 hit "Don't Come Home A Drinkin'".
"I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" is the debut single by American country music artist Loretta Lynn, released in March 1960. The song was among the first to not only be recorded by Lynn, but also to be penned by her. She composed the song while living in Washington State, maintaining her role as a housewife and occasional member of a local country music band. The composition was later recorded in California after Lynn was given money by a local businessman, who was impressed by her singing. "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" was then issued as a single under the newly founded and independent Zero Records label in March 1960.
