Lynn Anderson(1947-2015)

Lynn Rene Anderson was a multi-award-winning American country music singer known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, most notably her country-pop, worldwide mega-hit "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden". She charted 12 No. 1, 18 Top-10, and more than 50 Top-40 hits. Anderson's crossover appeal and regular exposure on national television helped her become one of the most popular and successful country singers of the 1970s. In addition to being named "Top Female Vocalist" by the Academy of Country Music (ACM) twice and "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the Country Music Association (CMA), she had won a Grammy Award, People's Choice Award and an American Music Award (AMA). She was named Record World Magazine's and Billboard Magazine's Female Artist of the Decade (1970-1980). Because of her mainstream success, Anderson was the first female country artist to be invited as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) in late 1971 (the first of several appearances she would make with Carson at the helm). Anderson was also the first female country artist to win the American Music Award in 1974, as well as the first to headline and sellout Madison Square Garden that same year.