Photo: GAB Archive/Redferns
Jody Miller, a Grammy Award-winningcountry artistand crossover icon,has died. She was 80.
Miller died in her hometown of Blanchard, Oklahoma on Thursday after dealing with the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease for the past few years.
Daughter and singer-songwriter Robin Brooks released a statement following her passing.
The statement, posted on the Facebook page of Brook’s band, reads: “Middle Sister is sorry to announce the passing of Jody Miller this morning, music icon and mother of Robin Brooks. Please remember the family as they deal with this great loss.”
David Redfern/Redferns
The country legend was one of Oklahoma’s first Grammy Award-winning artists and only the second woman to pick up the award for best country performance –– female.
With her 1965 Grammy-winning hit “Queen of the House,” Miller cemented her place in the music industry after first signing to Capitol Records as a folk artist in 1962.
She succeeded as a crossover artist throughout her long-lasting career.
Miller released additional hit singles like the teen pop anthem “Home of the Brave” and the song “Long Black Limousine.”
Her career only rose in the 1970s when she signed with Epic Records.
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Although she retired in the 1980s, she later emerged as a Christian music artist and was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 1999.
She entered the music studio one last time in 2020 for an upcoming project titledWayfaring Stranger, onHeart of Texas Records.
Her longtime representative Jennifer McMullen said, confirming her death, that Miller’s “talent cannot be overstated.”
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“She had this innate, God-given ability to interpret and communicate with the most beautiful tones and inflection,” McMullen said in a statement."
“She made it look and sound so easy that it sometimes takes a moment to realize the greatness of what you are hearing. But she was just as authentic and exceptional in her own life as she was on stage and on record.”
source: people.com
