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Gretchen Wilson
Background information
Birth name	Gretchen Frances Wilson
Born	June 26, 1973 (1973-06-26) (age 35)1
Origin	Pocahontas, Illinois, USA1
Genre(s)	Country
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals Acoustic guitar
Years active	2004–present
Label(s)	Epic Columbia Nashville
Associated acts	MuzikMafia Big & Rich
Website	http://www.gretchenwilson.com

Gretchen Frances Wilson (born June 26, 1973 in Pocahontas, Illinois) is an American country music artist. She made her debut in 2004 with the Grammy Award-winning single "Redneck Woman"; a Number One hit on the Billboard country charts the song served as the lead-off single to her debut album Here for the Party. Wilson followed this album one year later with All Jacked Up, the title track of which became the highest-debuting single for a female country artist upon its 2005 release. A third album, One of the Boys, was released in 2007.

Overall, Wilson has charted thirteen singles on the Billboard country charts, of which five have reached Top Ten: the Number One "Redneck Woman", as well as "Here for the Party" (#3, 2004), "When I Think About Cheatin'" (#4, 2004), "Homewrecker" (#2, 2005), and "All Jacked Up" (#8, 2005). The album Here for the Party was certified 5× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA for sales of five million copies, while All Jacked Up was certified platinum and One of the Boys certified gold.

Biography

Early life

Gretchen Wilson was born in Pocahontas, Illinois to a 16-year-old mother. Her father left before she was two years old, and she and her mother lived in trailer parks and relative poverty. Gretchen's mother worked as a waitress, and Wilson herself dropped out of the 9th grade at age 15 to work as a cook and bartender in rural Illinois.

Gretchen began singing in small bars around the St. Louis, MIssouri, area at age 17. In 1991 Susie Osburn, a bar manager from Springfield, Missouri, went to St. Louis to find a new house band for her bar, the Townhouse. She found 18-year-old Gretchen singing Patsy Cline covers, so well so that Osburn initially thought the singing was coming from a jukebox. Recognizing Gretchen's talent, Osburn immediately convinced Gretchen and her band, Sam-A-Lama, to move to Springfield and play at the Townhouse. In her biography, Wilson says it was the offer of a lifetime. After playing the Townhouse for two years at six nights a week Gretchen moved back home to Pocahontas, Ill., before continuing on to Nashville. ²

After a failed marriage to former Baywolfe bandmate Larry Rolens, she moved to Nashville and began dating Mike Penner. They have a daughter, Grace Frances Penner, who was born November 9, 2001. She had sung in two bar bands by the age of 20. In 1996 she moved to Nashville to sing back-up and record sample songs. In 2000, she met John Rich, a member of Big & Rich, who invited her to become his songwriting partner. In 2007, she completed the GED program.

Here for the Party

Wilson signed with Epic Records in 2003 and recorded Here for the Party within the year. Her first single, "Redneck Woman", was released in early 2004 and reached the top of the Hot Country Songs charts and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song was also the first Number One country hit by a female in two years.¹ The success of "Redneck Woman" prompted an earlier-than-planned release for Here for the Party, and it debuted at #1 on the Billboard country chart. It also reached #2 on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Internet album sales charts. She performed as a support artist for Brooks & Dunn and Montgomery Gentry.

She released the title track to her debut album as the second single. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard country chart. Two other songs were released as singles, and both reached the top 10. Released in markets outside the U.S., the album hit #2 on the Australian country charts (behind Kasey Chambers) and the top 50 of the Australian charts. Here for the Party was certified 5× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA.

All Jacked Up

On September 27, 2005, Gretchen released her second album, All Jacked Up,¹ which peaked at #1 on both the Top 200 and Country album charts and sold 1 million copies. The title track debuted at #21 on the Hot Country Songs charts, setting a record for the highest debut ever made by a female artist. This record was broken in late 2007 by Carrie Underwood's "So Small". Despite its high debut, however, "All Jacked Up" peaked at #8 on Hot Country Songs after only eight chart weeks. Three more singles were released from All Jacked Up: "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today", "Politically Uncorrect" (a duet with Merle Haggard) and "California Girls", none of which reached Top 20 on the country charts. These latter two singles were issued on Columbia Records, due to the closure of Epic Records's Nashville division.

Wilson's "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today" was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best Female Country Vocal Performance, and Best Country Song. In 2006, Wilson contributed a well-received cover of Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Coming Down" on the tribute CD The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson.

One of the Boys

On May 15, 2007, Gretchen released her third album, One of the Boys. The album debuted at #5 on the Top 200 and at #1 on the Country album chart. After 11 weeks, it exited the Billboard Top 200, having sold 178,220 copies at that point. "Come to Bed" (a duet with John Rich) and the title track, the first two singles released, both peaked in the thirties on the country charts, while the third and final single ("You Don't Have to Go Home") failed to reach the Top 40.

I Got Your Country Right Here

On July 14, 2008, Gretchen released a new single, "Don't Do Me No Good". This song is the first single from her forthcoming studio album, which is currently set for release January 20, 2009. "Don't Do Me No Good" failed to reach Top 40, however.

On July 31, 2008, the Black Crowes filed a lawsuit against Wilson for copyright violation, alledging that her song "Work Hard, Play Harder" copied the Crowes song "Jealous Again". Also included in the suit were her label Sony BMG, her publishing company, and the cable network TNT, which has been using the song in commercials. ³ There is no resolution at present; however, Crowes manager Pete Angelus has stated that he expects a quick resolution without litigation. ⁴

Politics

Wilson and her band performed at Republican presidential candidate Arizona Senator John McCain and vice-presidential candidate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's political rally at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 22, 2008 to an enthusiastic crowd of approximately 12,000 supporters. Palin started the rally by exclaiming that she couldn't wait to get (Wilson's) autograph. Wilson played a version of the Heart song "Barracuda" for Palin. The band Heart had demanded that their own original version not be played at Republican rallies.⁵

Awards

• 2005 CMA Female Vocalist of the Year
• 2004 ACM Top Female Vocalist
• 2004 ACM Top New Artist
• 2004 CMA Horizon Award
• 2004 Grammy Award Best Female Country Vocal Performance⁶

Grammy Award history

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)

Discography

Main article: Gretchen Wilson discography

References

External links

• Gretchen Wilson official site
• Gretchen Wilson at CMT
• Gibson.com interview with Gretchen Wilson by Ellen Mallernee