Biography
Helen Cornelius built a multifaceted career in country music as a vocalist, composer, dancer, actress, and multi-instrumentalist. Born Helen Lorene Johnson in Monroe City, Missouri, she spent her childhood on a farm alongside older brothers who performed in local bands. With sisters Judy and Sharon she formed a vocal trio whose father drove the group to engagements; Cornelius later left the sisters to tour independently with her band the Crossroads.
Following high-school graduation she married and took a secretarial post, yet resumed road work during the 1960s while beginning to write songs. Recognition arrived in 1970 when Columbia/Screen Gems Music signed her after receiving a demo tape. When that publisher closed, she submitted material to Jerry Crutchfield, joined MCA Music, and, with his assistance, secured a Columbia Records contract. Cornelius relocated to Nashville in 1973, cut two singles that failed to chart, and then moved to RCA, releasing her first single for the label in 1975; neither it nor the follow-up entered the charts.
Success arrived through producer pairings that teamed Cornelius with Jim Ed Brown. Their 1976 debut single, “I Don’t Want to Have to Marry You,” became a major hit. A subsequent solo release, “There’s Always a Goodbye,” stalled, yet the duo returned to the Top Three with “Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye.” Later that year Cornelius and Brown joined the cast of the television series Nashville on the Road, after which she toured with Brown’s revue and made her Grand Ole Opry debut.
Additional 1978 chart entries included the Top 15 duets “I’ll Never Be Free” and “If the World Ran Out of Love Tonight,” while Cornelius scored a solo hit with “What Cha Doin’ After Midnight Baby.” The partnership continued until 1981, when Cornelius ended the act to reclaim her individual identity; her first post-duo single, “Love Never Comes Easy,” reached the Top 50. Another charting record followed in 1983, the same year she served as spokesperson for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In 1984 she shifted focus to theater, joining the road revival of Annie Get Your Gun and touring with the Statler Brothers. A self-titled album appeared in 1985, and three years later she reunited with Brown for the Reunited Tour ’88.
During the 1990s Cornelius opened Helen Cornelius’ Nashville South in the heart of Gatlinburg, Tennessee’s entertainment district; the venue presented nightly live country performances by Cornelius and her band, with saddles serving as bar stools. In 2002 and 2003 she performed at the Jim Stafford Theater in Branson, Missouri, rotating within the women-in-country production Us Girls!.
Following high-school graduation she married and took a secretarial post, yet resumed road work during the 1960s while beginning to write songs. Recognition arrived in 1970 when Columbia/Screen Gems Music signed her after receiving a demo tape. When that publisher closed, she submitted material to Jerry Crutchfield, joined MCA Music, and, with his assistance, secured a Columbia Records contract. Cornelius relocated to Nashville in 1973, cut two singles that failed to chart, and then moved to RCA, releasing her first single for the label in 1975; neither it nor the follow-up entered the charts.
Success arrived through producer pairings that teamed Cornelius with Jim Ed Brown. Their 1976 debut single, “I Don’t Want to Have to Marry You,” became a major hit. A subsequent solo release, “There’s Always a Goodbye,” stalled, yet the duo returned to the Top Three with “Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye.” Later that year Cornelius and Brown joined the cast of the television series Nashville on the Road, after which she toured with Brown’s revue and made her Grand Ole Opry debut.
Additional 1978 chart entries included the Top 15 duets “I’ll Never Be Free” and “If the World Ran Out of Love Tonight,” while Cornelius scored a solo hit with “What Cha Doin’ After Midnight Baby.” The partnership continued until 1981, when Cornelius ended the act to reclaim her individual identity; her first post-duo single, “Love Never Comes Easy,” reached the Top 50. Another charting record followed in 1983, the same year she served as spokesperson for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In 1984 she shifted focus to theater, joining the road revival of Annie Get Your Gun and touring with the Statler Brothers. A self-titled album appeared in 1985, and three years later she reunited with Brown for the Reunited Tour ’88.
During the 1990s Cornelius opened Helen Cornelius’ Nashville South in the heart of Gatlinburg, Tennessee’s entertainment district; the venue presented nightly live country performances by Cornelius and her band, with saddles serving as bar stools. In 2002 and 2003 she performed at the Jim Stafford Theater in Branson, Missouri, rotating within the women-in-country production Us Girls!.
Albums
