Brenda Lee - I'm Sorry

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- Brenda Lee was born Brenda Mae Tarpley on Dec. 11, 1944, in Atlanta. She was the 2nd daughter of Rubin & Grace Tarpley. The youngster showed distinctive vocal talent at age 3, won her first singing contest when she was 5 & was performing regularly on an Atlanta radio station when she was 7. It was at about that time that a TV producer in Augusta, Ga., changed her name to Brenda Lee. In 1953, when she was 9, her father died in a construction accident. Country singer Red Foley heard Lee when she was around 10 years old & subsequently invited her to appear with him on the popular TV show, Ozark Jubilee.

Her popularity & high visibility soon won her guest shots on such popular network programs as The Ed Sullivan Show & The Perry Como Show. In 1956, Lee signed with Decca Records, where she later united with the legendary producer Owen Bradley, who would oversee most of her hits. She charted her first pop single, "One Step at a Time," in 1957, but it made it only to No. 43. (The song did, however, go to No. 15 on the country rankings.) Though it would take a few years to break in the U.S., her early records sold well in Europe. She toured France in 1959 & has since established herself internationally as one of the most visible & beloved ambassadors of country music.

It wasn't until 1960 when Lee took "Sweet Nothin's" to No. 4 on the pop charts that she made a major impact as a recording artist. Over the next 13 years, she scored two No. 1's ("I'm Sorry" and 'I Want to Be Wanted'), four Top 5s and five Top 10s. While its short seasonal nature kept it from ever topping the charts, her "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," recorded in 1958, has become a holiday classic. A spellbinding stage performer, the diminutive 4' 11" vocalist was dubbed "Little Miss Dynamite" following the release of her 2nd charted single, "Dynamite," in 1957. In 1962, during a Jackie Wilson concert at the fairgrounds in Nashville, Lee met her future husband, Charles (Ronnie) Shacklett.

They were married on April 24, 1963, while Lee, still in her teens, was at the height of her record chart popularity. In spite of the pressures of show business, her marriage has endured. She & her husband have 2 daughters. Just as her pop presence was waning, Lee struck it big on the country charts. Between 1973 and 1975, she had 6 consecutive Top 10 hits on Decca's successor label, MCA. She continued to inhabit the country charts through the '80s & '90s with "Tell Me What It's Like," "The Cowgirl & the Dandy" & "Broken Trust" (with the Oak Ridge Boys) all going Top 10. Lee is a tireless supporter of the Nashville music community at large & of numerous charitable organizations.