Vince Gill's Time Jumpers' Vocalist Dawn Sears has Died

Vince Gill's Time Jumpers' vocalist Dawn Sears has died on Thursday (Dec. 11th).  After a two year bout with lung cancer, Dawn Sears finally lost the battle and died at the age of 53.  In addition to Sears' role as a singer in Vince Gill-led Time Jumpers, she served as a backing vocalist for Gill touring team, a backing vocalists for many country records, and she has had even released three albums as a solo artist.

A native of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Sears was just 14 when she won her first talent contest at a VFW Hall in Grand Forks, North Dakota. At 17, she was touring with a band throughout the West and Midwest. After moving to Nashville in 1987, she signed to Warner Bros. Records and released her debut album, What a Woman Wants to Hear, in 1991.

What a Woman Wants to Hear features songs written by the late Harlan Howard, Linda Davis (mother of Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott), Paulette Carlson (of Highway 101 fame), and Mike Reid (who wrote Bonnie Riatt's "I Can't Make You Love Me").   Though the album did not produce any signature hits, the title cut received some airplay and even charted on Billboard's Country chart then.  Songs from the album later were later cut by other artists.  Reba McEntire and Linda Davis, for instance, recorded "He's in Dallas" and Shelby Lynne recorded "Tell Me I'm Crazy." 

Later, Sears became the first artist signed to the reactivated Decca label in Nashville, releasing the album Nothin' but Good.  The album was lauded by critics as her best album.  Vince Gill, her boss and her mentor, even co-wrote a song "If I Didn't Have You in My World" on the record.  And Carlene Carter of the famed Carter Family co-wrote the bouncy "Uh Oh."  Again, songs from the record were re-recorded by other country artists including George Strait who sang "That's Where I Want to Take Our Love."

After her stint with Decca, Sears went on to release one more album Dawn Sears, albeit independently. In addition to the Time Jumpers projects and several of Gill's albums, Sears sang harmony on tunes by Ronnie Milsap, Tracy Byrd,Jim Lauderdale, Patty Loveless and Merle Haggard, among others.

In October, McEntire headlined a benefit for Sears, which also featured performances by the Time Jumpers and Riders in the Sky. In a statement at the time, Sears said, "I am on a mission to help fund lung-cancer research at [Nashville's] Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. A benefit concert is the best way I know how to do that. It is my mission to bring more hope to those of us with lung cancer. I was diagnosed with lung cancer over a year ago and I now have a greater understanding of the daily battle and challenges that people with cancer of any kind face."  

Sears is survived by her husband, Kenny, and their daughter, Tess. Funeral arrangements are pending.

 

 

 

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