Link copied
Grammy Award-winning country star and Grand Ole Opry legend Jeannie Seely died on Friday (Aug. 1) at Summit Medical Center in Hermitage, Tennessee. She was 85 years old.
The Pennsylvania-born country soul trailblazer, known for the Grammy-winning hit 'Don't Touch Me', was one of the Opry's most veteran performers, having taken the iconic stage over 5,300 times. Her first Opry performance came in 1966, with her last occurring just this past February.
In her seven-decade-long career, Seely made history. She was the first woman to host the Opry–as well as the first to daringly don a miniskirt on its stage–and, in 1967, was the third recipient of the then newly established Grammy award for Best Female Country Performance.
Throughout her career, she was cast on The Porter Wagoner Show, sang alongside Jack Greene and Willie Nelson and penned songs for the likes of Ernest Tubb and Merle Haggard. She even gave acting a try, appearing in onstage productions of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and starred in the 1980 film, Honeysuckle Rose, with Nelson.
Many would go on to record her music, including Connie Smith, Ray Price and Hank Williams Jr.
Seely was active in the country music community up until several medical procedures earlier this year kept her from making appearances.
This past May, Seely published a message on her website, offering a health update, that read: "Over the past several weeks, I've received so many wonderful messages of love and concern about being missed on the Grand Ole Opry and on Sundays with Seely on Willie's Roadhouse. Thank you for those, and I assure you that I miss you just as much! Hopefully I can count on that support as I struggle through this recovery process from multiple back surgeries in March, as well as two emergency abdominal surgeries in April, followed by eleven days in the intensive care unit and a bout with pneumonia. Rehab is pretty tough but each day is looking brighter and last night, I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. And it was neon, so I knew it was mine! The unsinkable Seely is working her way back."
––
