Today would have been Skeeter Davis’s birthday. The Dry Ridge, Kentucky native was born back in 1931 and left a mark on country music. Skeeter Davis was the first country music female artist to be nominated for a Grammy award.
In 1973, Skeeter Davis was banned from being a Grand Ole Opry complaining about arrests of a Christian group’s members. She was later allowed to come back to the Opry in 1975. In those days, and even today, it was hard for a woman to speak her mind without getting into trouble. Word was that Roy Acuff made a plea on stage of the Opry to reinstate the death penalty after the murder of another Kentucky native, Stringbean Akemon. He didn’t receive a fallout, yet Skeeter Davis did.
Sadly we lost the legend in 2004 due to breast cancer. Below is one of her many performances of the hit song, “End of the World.”
Jessica Blankenship is the owner and founder of Kentucky Country Music website with over 20 years experience in music journalism, concert planning, photography, and promotion. Jessica is a Kentucky Colonel and alumni of the 2019 Leadership Kentucky BRIGHT Class and a recipient of the Laurel County’s Ten Under 40 Award. Listen to her each week on WFKY on Friday mornings for the Nashville News Roundup.
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