Lorrie Morgan is George Morgan's Daughter. He helped her to develop an interest in country music. When she was 13, she sang "Paper Roses" at the Ryman Auditorium. She is the youngest of 5 children. She was born June 27, 1959 in Hendersonville, TN.
Tragically, her father died when she was 16. After her father's death in 1975, she worked as a backing singing with George Jones's roadshow and for a time was married to Ron Gaddis, who played steel guitar in Jones's band. In 1979, she scored her first minor chart successes with 'Two People In Love' and 'Tell Me I'm Only Dreaming', as well as with a duet recording made earlier with her late father, 'I'm Completely Satisfied With You'. The same year, she had a daughter but her marriage ended and, tiring of life on the road, she basically retired
The next year, Lorrie started her singing career. In 1985, she was invited to join the Opry. At the time she was a regular performer at the Opry and on TNN's Nashville Now program. She married Ron Gaddis and had her daughter, Morgan. Unfortunately, this marriage was short lived and Lorrie has to raise her daughter alone after a divorce. During this period, she worked as a demo singer while searching for a record label.
In 1986, she married Keith Whitley. They had Jesse Keith in 1987. In 1984, the lure of music enticed her back she became a member of the Opry and relaunched her career. She met and married singer Keith Whitley in 1986 but the marriage ended when Whitley's heavy drinking finally took his life in May 1989 (she later recorded a tribute to Whitley, 'If You Came Back From Heaven', which appeared on her 1994 album War Paint ) Lorrie also wrote the book Forever Yours, Faithfully -- My Love Story in tribute of him. That same year, Lorrie finally got what she was working for, a record deal.
In 1988, she joined RCA and had a Top 20 hit with 'Trainwreck Of Emotion.' 'Dear Me' finally established Lorrie as a major star. In 1990, she achieved her first number 1 with 'Five Minutes' and has had many hits since.
They include 'Til A Tear Becomes A Rose' (a duet made with Whitley), 'Except For Monday' and 'A Picture Of Me Without You' on RCA. A change of label to BNA in 1992, immediately produced a number 2 with 'Watch Me' and a further number 1 with 'What Part Of Me'. She is equally at home with up-tempo numbers or with ballads that call for the 'big voice' technique, such as her brilliant recording of 'Something In Red', which peaked at number 14. She attempted something different in 1993, when she recorded a Christmas album that had the New World Philharmonic Orchestra providing the music and featured duets with Tammy Wynette, Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis (the music was recorded in London and the vocals added in Nashville, Branson or L.A.). In 1993, she gained a Top 10 hit with 'Half Enough' and a minor placement for her version of 'Crying Time', which came from the movie The Beverly Hillbillies. In 1995, the release of Greatest Hits led to further chart successes. 'I Didn't Know My Own Strength' gave her another number 1 and soon afterwards, 'Back In Your Arms Again', a Fred Knobloch / Paul Davis song, with a catchy chorus, peaked at number 4. Her stunning version of 'Standing Tall', a Larry Butler/Ben Peters song that Billie Jo Spears had taken to number 15 in 1980, followed. A video of her singing the number, actually filmed on the stage of the old Ryman Auditorium home of the Opry, gained her recording major exposure on CMT and probably represents her best vocal performance since 'Something In Red'. Lorrie's appeal is built on her great looks and great vocal ability. To learn more, just go to Lorrie's home page at the link below.
