Kitty Wells was a demure housewife with three children when she recorded "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels," the first in a series of records she released during the 1950s that made her country music's first female superstar. Her success demonstrated to the conservative country establishment that women could profitably perform honky-tonk songs about controversial subjects such as infidelity and divorce. Wells became known as "the Queen of Country Music," and the songs she popularized gave listeners a woman's perspective on classic country themes. Her sharp nasal twang blazed a trail that would be followed by other "girl singers," as female country artists were known, including Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn.

Kitty Wells

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Wells was born Muriel Ellen Deason on August 30, 1919, into a family of singers and musicians. As a child, she learned to play the guitar and...