Nashville, Tenn. — The Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum will honor country music’s first female superstar, Kitty Wells, in Kitty Wells: Queen of Country Music, Presented by Great American Country Television Network, a biographical exhibit opening Friday, August 15, 2008, for a 10-month run in the Museum’s East Gallery. The exhibit will run through June 14, 2009.

Opening weekend festivities will include a 45-minute exhibit tour, guided by a Museum curator; an interview with Wells, hosted by 650 WSM announcer Eddie Stubbs and illustrated with photos, film footage and recordings from the Museum’s Frist Library and Archive; an autograph signing by Wells in the Museum Store; and a screening of the 1982 Showtime special A Tribute to Kitty Wells, hosted by Tammy Wynette. (A detailed schedule of grand opening activities is below.)

“Kitty Wells is, quite simply, a trailblazer,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “Her many hits—including her signature song ‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels’—were sung from a woman’s point of view, something that was new to country music at that time. She was marketed as a solo performer in an industry where women previously had performed only as members of family groups. Her success in selling records and concert tickets led record companies to open their doors to women artists. Many of contemporary country music’s biggest stars are women,” he said, “but Kitty Wells is the prototype.

“We are grateful to both Kitty and her husband, country star Johnnie Wright, for opening up their lives and home to us and allowing us to tell their extraordinary story.”

Kitty Wells: Queen of Country Music,
Presented by Great American Country Television Network

Born Muriel Deason in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 30, 1919, Wells forged a groundbreaking career that spanned more than a half century. Her indelible contributions to American music were acknowledged formally in 1976 when she was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Employing a wealth of splendid stage costumes, vintage photos, awards, instruments, posters and advertisements, personal correspondence and career-spanning audio and video of both Wells and Wright, Kitty Wells: Queen of Country Music will explore how Wells, a soft-spoken, dignified mother of three, succeeded in tearing down country music’s gender barrier and became a role model for generations of female artists. The exhibit will also chronicle Johnnie Wright’s successful recording career—both with the duo Johnnie & Jack and as a solo artist—and his role in managing Wells’ career.

Among the notable artifacts included in the exhibit are:

• sheet music of the ballad “Kitty Wells,” from which Johnnie Wright chose his wife’s stage name
• songwriter J. D. Miller’s original manuscript of “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”
• Wright’s 1947 Martin D-28 guitar with custom pick guard designed by Shot Jackson;
• Wells’ 1954 Gibson L-5 guitar
• a blue gingham stage costume worn by Wells in the 1950s;
• a gown worn by Wells to the 1976 CMA Awards, during which she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Wells’ 1991 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

Selected audio and video clips will further expand the exhibition story.

Kitty Wells: Queen of Country Music, Presented by Great American Country Television Network Grand Opening Weekend Program Schedule

All programs August 15-17 are included with Museum admission and free to members.

Friday, August 15 — 11:00 a.m.
Curator’s Exhibit Talk
A Museum curator offers an introduction to Kitty Wells: Queen of Country Music.

Saturday, August 16 — 1:30 p.m.
Interview with Kitty Wells
650 WSM personality Eddie Stubbs will interview Wells in the Museum’s Ford Theater. The program will be illustrated with vintage photos, film footage and recordings culled from the Museum’s collection.

Saturday, August 16 — 3:00 p.m.
Autograph Signing
Wells will sign autographs in the Museum Store.

Sunday, August 17 — All Day
Film Loop: A Tribute to Kitty Wells
Hosted by Tammy Wynette, this 1982 Showtime special features performances by Wells and her family, as well as Roy Acuff, Tom T. Hall, Hank Williams Jr., Wynette and many others. It will air continuously throughout the day.

Kitty Wells: Queen of Country Music will be accompanied by an ongoing series of programs throughout the exhibit’s run.

These programs are made possible, in part, by grants from the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and by an agreement between the Tennessee Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts.

Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The Museum’s mission is the preservation of the history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern culture. With the same educational mission, the Foundation also operates CMF Records, the Museum’s Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press, Historic RCA Studio B, and Hatch Show Print.

More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.com or by calling (615) 416-2001.

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