Lorrie Morgan, one of the most eloquently emotive country vocalists of modern times, is coming to The Clayton Center on Friday, April 8, at 8pm.
Rolling Stone called Morgan “one of country music’s most versatile talents of the past three decades,” and rightfully so, considering she has been around great songs all her life.
Daughter of Country Music Hall of Fame member George Morgan, Lorrie Morgan made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry stage at age 13 with a rendition of “Paper Roses.” Several years later, she began making records of her own and became a member of the Opry cast when she was just 24.
Morgan is the first woman in her genre to begin her career with three consecutive Platinum albums. Leave the Light On (1989), Something in Red (1991) and Watch Me (1992), all earned Platinum status. Her Greatest Hits collection (1999) went Platinum as well. War Paint (1994), Greater Need (1996) and Shakin' Things Up (1997) are all Gold Record winners.
Morgan has long been the envy of her peers for her lustrous vocal phrasing and the down-to-earth believability of her torchy performances. On records such as “A Picture of Me Without You” and “I Guess You Had to Be There,” she ached with pain. She was feisty and sassy in “Watch Me,” “What Part of No,” “Five Minutes” and “I Didn't Know My Own Strength.” She has kicked up her stiletto heels in fun on her hits “Except for Monday” and "Go Away,” and on her epic “Something in Red” she was an anguished, struggling everywoman.
Morgan married fellow country singer Keith Whitley in 1986. She was signed to RCA Records in 1987, and her onslaught of hits began the following year. Whitley's tragic death of an alcohol overdose in 1989 left her a widowed working mother. Their duet “Til a Tear Becomes a Rose” earned her a 1990 CMA award.
She sang “The Sad Café” on Common Threads: Songs of the Eagles, which was named the CMA Album of the Year in 1994. Country fans voted her their TNN/Music City News Female Vocalist of the Year in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Morgan maintained her recording pace in the new millennium, releasing collections in 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2010. In 2012 and 2013, she starred and sparkled in the lavish Enchanted Christmas productions at the opulent Opryland Resort in Nashville. She took that show on the road in 2014.
In 2013 Morgan teamed with fellow Opry star Pam Tillis for the duet CD Dos Divas. The two hit makers then embarked on a two-year joint tour that sold out every appearance.
Purchase tickets: $50, plus sales tax and fees.
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