Patsy Cline (1932–1963) was an American country singer from Winchester, Virginia, and a pioneer of the Nashville sound before a plane crash took her at 30. Crazy — written by a then-unknown Willie Nelson — I Fall to Pieces, and Walkin' After Midnight remain the measure of country singing. Shop Patsy Cline vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Virginia Patterson Hensley was born in Winchester, Virginia on September 8, 1932. She launched her recording career in the early 1950s as Patsy Cline (taking the surname from her first husband Gerald Cline). She signed with 4 Star Records in 1954 and subsequently moved to Decca Records in 1960. Her 1957 single Walkin' After Midnight (originally a 1956 demo) became her first hit. Her 1961 singles I Fall to Pieces and Crazy (the latter written by then-unknown Willie Nelson) established her as one of the foundational figures in country music - helping to develop the polished, string-arrangement-heavy Nashville sound alongside producer Owen Bradley. She survived a near-fatal car accident in June 1961 with recovery period. She died in a plane crash on March 5, 1963 in Camden, Tennessee at age 30 - the small plane (piloted by her manager Randy Hughes) crashed in heavy weather while returning from a benefit concert. Country singers Cowboy Copas (Lloyd Estel Copas) and Hawkshaw Hawkins also died in the crash. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973 (the first solo female artist inducted) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Her foundational influence on country music and broader popular music is widely cited as one of the most important contributions to the form.
Patsy Cline's sound is foundational to the Nashville sound - combining country, Nashville sound, country pop, traditional country, honky-tonk, and torch songs with her distinctive vocal delivery (use of expressive vibrato and emotional directness), and arrangements drawing on classic country alongside the polished string-arrangement-heavy Owen Bradley production approach. Her foundational influence on country music and broader popular music history is widely documented.
Original 4 Star Records and Decca Records pressings of the Patsy Cline catalog are foundational items in country music collecting. Multiple anniversary editions, audiophile reissues (Mobile Fidelity, Acoustic Sounds, Analogue Productions), and the comprehensive Universal Music/Geffen reissue programs have been released.
Listeners new to Patsy Cline typically start with Greatest Hits (1967) compilation or Showcase (1961).
