Biography
Born on 3 February 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and deceased in 1990, she was the daughter of country star Red Foley. Her mother perished during childbirth, after which a stepmother raised her in Berea, Kentucky. She took up guitar in childhood and, upon turning 17, began regular appearances on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, the program her father had co-created with John Lair around 1937. Those performances secured a Decca Records contract, which produced a number 8 hit in 1954 with the duet ‘As Far As I’m Concerned’ alongside her father, followed in 1955 by a Top 3 placement for the further paternal collaboration ‘A Satisfied Mind’. She exited the Renfro Valley Barn Dance in 1954, then served as a regular on WLW Cincinnati’s Midwestern Hayride during 1956 and 1957 while also appearing on the Grand Ole Opry. In 1958 she headlined WNOX Knoxville’s Tennessee Barndance before relocating to the Louisiana Hayride on KWKH Shreveport. After parting from Decca she signed with Bandera and scored her final chart entry, a number 7 hit titled ‘Old Moon’, in 1959. She later settled in as a resident performer with her father on the ABC-networked Jubilee USA television program broadcast from KWTO Springfield, Missouri. Once she retired from the stage she maintained a business interest in Kentucky Fried Chicken.