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Tammy Wynette

Country singer-songwriter

Virginia Wynette Pugh was born on 5 May 1942 on a farm near Tremont, Mississippi, the only child of Mildred Faye Russell and William Hollis Pugh, a guitarist and singer who died when she was nine months old. Pugh is a surname of Welsh origin, from ap Hugh, and readers of this site have long counted her among the Welsh diaspora, but we have not found a documented family line back to Wales.

As Tammy Wynette she became one of the defining voices of country music. I Don't Wanna Play House went to number one in 1967 and won her a Grammy, and D-I-V-O-R-C-E and Stand by Your Man, which she co-wrote, followed in 1968. Stand by Your Man became one of the best-selling singles ever by a woman in country music.

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The First Lady of Country Music, born Virginia Wynette Pugh. Welsh ancestry is claimed but unverified.

She was married to George Jones from 1969 to 1975 and their duets, including Golden Ring, topped the charts. In all she had around twenty US country number ones, won two Grammys and three CMA awards, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1991 she surprised a new generation with Justified and Ancient, recorded with The KLF, which reached number one in eighteen countries. She died in Nashville on 6 April 1998.

Career Highlights

  • 1968 -- Stand by Your Man and D-I-V-O-R-C-E
  • Around twenty US country number one singles
  • 1991 -- Justified and Ancient with The KLF, number one in eighteen countries
ℹ️ Born 5 May 1942 near Tremont, Mississippi, USA.
ℹ️ Died 6 April 1998 in Nashville, Tennessee, aged 55.

Unverified: born Virginia Wynette Pugh, a surname of Welsh origin, and an uncle named Harrad Pugh is mentioned by readers. No documented source traces her family to a place in Wales.

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