Brenda Lee’s breakthrough is said to have come in February 1955, when she turned down $30 ($334 in 2022 value) to appear on a Swainsboro radio station to see Red Foley and a touring promotional unit of his ABC-TV program Ozark Jubilee in Augusta. An Augusta disc jockey persuaded Foley to hear her sing before the show. Foley did and agreed to let her perform “Jambalaya” on stage that night, unrehearsed.
What happened to Brenda Lee?
According to findings, after decades of living in the music, Brenda Lee is now happily retired and spending quality time with her husband Ronnie Shacklett, two daughters Jolie and Julie, and three grandchildren, Taylor, Jordan, and Charley, in Nashville, Tennessee. In an interview with the New York Post, Brenda shared that she still sings.
The famous 78 years old American singer Brenda Mae Tarpley who is professionally known as Brenda Lee performed rockabilly, pop, and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only by Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Ray Charles.
Lee has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. She is a member of the Rock and Roll, Country Music, and Rockabilly Halls of Fame. She is also a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Lee is the first woman to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame.
