Country Music Veteran Lynn Anderson Dies a Month After Releasing Her First Gospel Album

Countr music veteran Lynn Anderson has just passed away. She died Friday morning (July 31) in Nashville at the age of 67. According to her publicist Pam Lewis, the singer had recently been suffering from pneumonia.

Only a month ago,  Anderson released her final album, Bridges. Her first-ever Gospel release, that features songs co-written by Paul Overstreet, Mike Reid and Liz Anderson.  The "Rose Garden" singer said each track on the album held a particular place in her heart, but "Wanderer's Prayer" was especially meaningful. "I've been so blessed in my life that things have kind of seemed to fall in place for me. I just have to keep on the right path and not jaunt off to the left or the right. I love how the lyrics speak of asking the Lord to keep me in the right direction. That's where the song hits me."

Lynn Rene Anderson is known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, most notably her 1970 country-pop, worldwide megahit "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden". Anderson's crossover appeal and regular exposure on national television helped her to become one of the most popular and successful country singers of the 1970s.

Lynn Anderson charted 12 No. 1, 18 Top 10, and more than 50 Top 40 hits. In addition to being named "Top Female Vocalist" by the Academy of Country Music (ACM) twice and "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the Country Music Association (CMA), Anderson won a Grammy Award (earning seven nominations), People's Choice Award and an American Music Award (AMA). She was named Billboard's Female Artist of the Decade (1970-1980). Anderson was the first female country artist to win the American Music Award (in 1974), as well as the first to headline and sellout Madison Square Garden that same year. 

Anderson debuted in 1966, at the age of 19, and had her first hit with Ride, Ride, Ride. After a series of Top 10 hit singles on the country charts during the late 1960s, Anderson signed with Columbia Records in 1970. Under Columbia, she had her most successful string of hits. Her signature song, "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden", remains one of the biggest selling country crossover hits of all time. In addition, the song also went to No. 3 on the Billboard Pop Chart and reached the top of the charts in several countries, an unprecedented achievement at the time. CMT ranks "Rose Garden" at No. 83 on its list of the "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music History".

Lynn Anderson continued to record and remained a popular concert attraction until her death, regularly headlining major casino showrooms, performing arts centers, and theaters. 

Her music continued to inspire many future superstars, such as Martina McBride, who released a cover of "Rose Garden" as the first single from her Timeless album in 2005. Anderson reprised the song earlier this year in bluegrass fashion with Lorraine Jordan and Carolina Road on their album Country Grass. 

Arrangements for Lynn Anderson are pending.

 

 

 

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