Holly Dunn Wasn’t Happy About Her ‘Total Expunging’ from the Grand Ole Opry (RIP)
Another day, and another unfortunate passing in the country music community. On Tuesday morning (11-15) it was announced that Warner Bros. recording artist and once marquee Grand Ole Opry performer Holly Dunn has died. Dunn had announced earlier this year that she was diagnosed with ovarian Cancer. She was 59-years-old.
Active mostly in the late 80’s into the mid 90’s, Dunn accumulated 10 Top 20 hits, including two #1’s with 1989’s “Are You Ever Going to Love Me,” and 1990’s Yoakam-esque “You Really Had Me Going.” Her song “Daddy’s Hands” from her debut self-titled album is also a fan favorite, and helped put Holly Dunn on the map when she was still signed to a minor label.
But like so many country stars, after about five or six years of success, the industry decided they had gotten about all they wanted from Holly Dunn, and she slowly faded away from sight. Her last record on Warner Bros. was 1992’s Get It Dunn, but the singles failed to crack the Top 50. In 1995 she released an album via River North Records, but her mainstream career was ostensibly done. This was confirmed when she received a phone call from the Grand Ole Opry.
“I had really participated as a younger member,” Holly Dunn told the The 9513.com in February of 2010 in one of their Where Are The Now? segments. “I hosted the TV show and backstage show for two years. I was Bill Anderson’s substitute host when he couldn’t be there. And I did commercials for them and radio for them. I loved the Opry and what it stood and stands for.”
But that love was not reciprocated. No longer living in Nashville, but still willing to keep up with her Opry commitments, Holly Dunn received word that she had been removed as a member.
“I have some amazing memories. I wish there was a way, though — just to make a suggestion to them — to keep a list of folks that were members in the past,” she said. “This whole total expunging you from the list is sort of a little harsh, I think. There are people on that list that I know for a fact might make it once a year if they’re lucky. It’s a little subjective. That’s my only gripe.”
Subjective is right. As is pointed out every year by Opry blogger Byron Fay, as well as Saving Country Music, many of the Grand Ole Opry’s contemporary stars regularly do not meet their performance requirements on an annual basis, include some such as Blake Shelton who have gone years without making any appearances at all. In fact the only current mainstream star that does honor her commitments regularly is Carrie Underwood. Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, and others habitually come up short with their number of appearances per year, yet their Opry membership is never questioned.
The treatment of Holly Dunn and others also hearkens back to the way some country fans feel about how Hank Williams was handled by the Opry. Kicked out for drunkeness and missing rehearsals, the Reinstate Hank campaign has looked to add his name back to the Opry membership list since he had such a huge impact on the institution and the Opry regularly uses his name and likeness to this day.
As Holly Dunn pointed out, Opry membership is an incredible honor and can cement the legacy of a performing artist. Some artists retire, move away, or die, and it’s unfortunate how the Opry seems to deal with these names like they never existed. A proper way to honor past members is all proponents of the Reinstate Hank movement and fans of artists like Holly Dunn have ever asked for.
Holly Dunn officially retired from performing in 2003 and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to pursue her passion as a painter. She died in the early morning hours on Tuesday in Albuquerque.
November 15, 2016 @ 7:42 pm
One of the many reasons I’ve lost my passion for country music. One day, you’re on top of the world, next minute, they act like you never even existed. It’s a terrible shame and the sad part is…The Opry probably hasn’t even taken noticed that she has died.
November 15, 2016 @ 11:03 pm
Hip-hop though is worse but then again does anybody really want to see a 50 year old 2 Chainz?
June 29, 2022 @ 11:47 pm
Holly Dunn wasn’t honest about her dismissal from the Grand Ole Opry. The first time I heard Holly struggling to make it through a song on the Opry, I thought maybe she had a cold or a sore throat. I heard her twice more and she sounded the same. There was something badly wrong with her voice and it was embarrassing to hear her trying to sing. I wondered why she would even attempt it when she knew her voice was gone.
January 10, 2023 @ 7:03 pm
I really love the singing of Holly on the CD Heart Full of Love! Definitely a heart full of good singing.
November 15, 2016 @ 8:08 pm
Very nice voice. Daddy’s Hands was a great song. Wish there were more out there that would follow the same path. RIP.
November 15, 2016 @ 8:55 pm
That’s the problem, when they follow the same path as her, they get shunned and turned away just like she did
November 16, 2016 @ 8:30 am
One of my favorite songs as a kid. 🙁 RIP Holly…
November 15, 2016 @ 9:13 pm
I feel bad for the Opry. they are in an unwinnable position.
They have to reach out to newer stars or risk losing respect and relevance.
Not reaching out is tantamount to career suicide. Especially given how many Opry staples and regulars have passed away in the last 2 years.
But when they DO reach out, they get derided by us traditional minded enthusiasts?
Me? it burns my buns that they let Luke Bryan up on that stage, member or not.
So it’s either reject tradition and rules and lose respect, or risk losing relevance and losing money…
Not quite a winnable situation.
I hate to talk politics and business in an obituary, and for that I apologize.
As much as we like to make it “about music” the Opry is a business.
And unfortunately, it isn’t kind to people who are no longer money makers.
but of all people Holly Dunn being treated this way is a stretch.
I get it, there’s nothing in the books for past members or for even a tiny museum to past members or anything.
But even if there isn’t something like that for Hank (at this point Reinstate Hank has become the butt of jokes and has lost any relevance and influence, it’s just a placeholder for people to use when they want to complain.) someone as influential as Holly Dunn deserves something more than just expungement.
My perspective is that Hank Williams was a drunkard some seventy years ago, and got fired for perfectly sound reasons, namely his behavior and lack of commitment, and has been deceased since that time and is already one of the most influential performers of the century. what left is there to gain from “Reinstating” Hank Williams? What does that even mean, “reinstate hank?”
What could we gain?
What would he be “reinstated” into?
I think carving names of past and present members into little bricks that line the front of the stage, a little wall of silver or gold bricks with the names of members and performers that the audience can see right in front of the first seats, is the best solution.
Holly Dunn’s was a great performer and a great stage presence and sadly I never got to see her perform.
She was real exciting. always seemed happy.
November 15, 2016 @ 11:26 pm
The reason I thought these Holly Dunn quotes were so important is because they show that the way the Opry deals with past members and deceased members is an issue beyond whatever people may think about Reinstate Hank. I remember when I first started Free Hank III folks thought Hank3 was just being a whiner. Then all of a sudden scores of Curb Records artists came out in opposition to the label and it became known in country music how bad they were to their artists. Same thing about Reinstate Hank. It speaks to a deeper issue that has affected dozens of artists. Hopefully the Opry understands this someday and works to rectify the situation.
November 16, 2016 @ 7:19 am
I’m not saying it’s bad philosophy or faulty way of thinking. But “reinstating” Hank Williams is not what it’s about.
Hank Williams has been gone for six decades. We can’t “reinstate him” into anything.
And the way the Opry deals with older talent has been a problem for decades. It isn’t something new that correlates to the state of the industry. It has been a problem for a while.
Remember when they tried to kick Stonewall Jackson off?
And since I got my associates in music and my bachelor’s in business I’m looking at it from both sides.
The Opry has been in a bad place stuck between to warring camps for a long time and they are trying, and failing, but at least trying to appease newer and older fans and provide something for everyone.
And I really liked my little idea of just covering one wall or the front of the stage with little bricks or maybe a wall of photos and just having even a list of names, no biographies necessary, not even photos. at least it’s a step up.
I mean they have past members and performers online, we can look it up online, but a physical place would be nice.
I know because as a kid I was huge into Stringbean and I was researching Stringbean and I found the website with all the past and present members.
So there’s something. at least for us fans with computers.
December 30, 2016 @ 1:51 pm
I think it is total bullshit the way the opry does business…. perfect example holly dunn. in her money making years as mainstream country artist she gave up a lot of huge money making Friday and Saturday nights so she could fufill her opry comitmants then after her career cooled down they dumped her…. it should be you take care of the opry then in the later years they take care of you not shit in your face.
March 10, 2024 @ 7:06 pm
In agreement with you Trigger, BUT don’t hold your breathe until someone in Opry Management awakens to the fact that The Opry is Not Infallible ! Being A Grand Ole Opry Member is should certainly be A Rare Honor, but tragically there are those Members that treat it like ‘a participation award’. I do understand that there Must be a balance between Finances & Artistry. However, IF the main focus in on Finances, eventually there will be NO Artistry.
November 16, 2016 @ 8:47 am
Welp, never thought I’d agree with Fuzzy but this is spot on. The Opry probably needs some sort of member emeritus section.
November 16, 2016 @ 12:38 pm
I’m really not as absurd and obnoxious as people make me out to be. haha.
Glad you agree with me.
November 16, 2016 @ 7:44 pm
Fuzzy, I enjoy your posts and appreciate your calling it as you see it. I like your brick idea, that would be a nice move on the Opry’s part. When I was there recently, it was packed out and tickets aren’t cheap. I do think as older “go to” members like the White family, Connie Smith, and John Conlee retire, the Opry is going to need to embrace current and future Americana, traditional and country performers to keep the place filled. I was enthused to see Kelsey Waldon on there recently. I do think Elizabeth Cook and Margo Price would make loyal members.
RIP Holly Dunn, condolences to her family and fans.
November 15, 2016 @ 9:23 pm
Holly Dunn was a great singer and I have most of her cd’s. Rest In Peace Holly!
November 15, 2016 @ 9:51 pm
Since The 9513 is no longer in existence (sigh), I thought I’d drop the interview I did with her that you alluded to here for those that might be interested in reading it in its entirety. Holly was a wonderful interview- engaging and personable.
Ken Morton, Jr.- Both you and your brother ended up in the music biz, your brother more on the songwriting side of things. What prompted that career choice?
Holly Dunn- We grew up in a musical family. Some families are more focused on sports, ours just happened to be more on music and art and writing. Our dad was a preacher. My brother, Chris, started playing guitar at a very early age. And he’s the one that influenced me so that by the time I was eight or nine years old, I was playing guitar. It kind of grew from there. It was just our love and our talent. It was our thing for a lack of a better way to put it. I was actively performing in high school and in college and singing all the time. Chris moved to Nashville in the late 70’s and I graduated college in 1979- I’m giving away how old I am- and I just followed him out there. I really have to give him credit because he is the one that made it seem possible. We started writing songs and having hits as songwriters. It made the dream seem like it was attainable.
KMJ- Was a performing career your ultimate goal as a music artist or was it songwriting- or were you just following your brother?
HD- I loved to perform. That was my thing, although I loved to write songs and sing my own songs. That was part of the package I guess. I think when I moved to Nashville, I didn’t know what I’d be able to do. I had hopes and aspirations, and I probably would have been satisfied just being a songwriter, but my goal was to sing in front of people and make records. And do my own music was big. I’m just thankful it worked out that way.
KMJ- Talk to me about what life was like for you in the late 80’s and early 90’s
HD- In the early 80’s, I was a struggling songwriter making about $100 a week trying to survive living in a little apartment.
KMJ- And probably wondering what your brother had gotten you into?
HD- (Laughing) Exactly! My parents were back in Texas and I was the only girl in the family and every time I would talk to them, they would just say, “Come back to Texas. There’s a music scene here in Austin.” They were putting pressure on me to come home and get real and move back. It wasn’t that they didn’t think I had talent, they just wanted me closer to them. I stuck with it. I had enough encouragement. It’s kind of like gambling. If you win just enough, you keep playing. That’s how encouragement works in Nashville. I had just enough pats on the back. Other songwriters would have them to sing their demos. There were enough positives rolling in to keep going. By 1984, I met a guy named Tommy West who had produced Jim Croce, someone whose music I was very familiar with and whose songs I would sing a little bit. He was forming a record label with some guys from California for MTM, Mary Tyler Moore music group. I was the first artist they signed. I was hardly a recording artist at that point. It’s really what started things.
KMJ- Was it “Daddy’s Hands” that really was the launch pad for your career?
HD- It really was. That little song. Man. It’s been such a gift. It was a gift to me the way it fell into my head. That little song was amazing. It was my fourth single. Each single did a little better and a little better, but I hadn’t even broken the Top 40 yet. I was barely known. My name was barely out there with the DJ’s and public. We had barely scratched the surface when we put out “Daddy’s Hands.” It blew the lid off of everything. It was instantaneously accepted. It didn’t go number one oddly enough. It went number seven. It was on the charts for over six months which back there was unheard of. I got two GRAMMY nominations because of that song and had eleven award nominations because of that little song. It was gangbusters for me. I won the Horizon Award at the CMA Awards and I won the New Female Vocalist Award at the ACM’s. All of a sudden, it exploded. Then I felt like I was trying to hold on for dear life.
KMJ- Are your ACM & CMA Awards as meaningful today as when you won them?
HD- You know, I’m sitting here in my office looking at them right this minute. They really are. They’re right up there with my three GRAMMY nominations and my BMI Songwriter of the Year Award. I don’t have a lot of those things out any longer, it almost seems like another person. I’ve been gone long enough where it’s kind of a memory at this point. They symbolize that what we did mattered. There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears in those awards. There are a lot of miles on the road for those.
KMJ- Looking back, would you have done anything differently, anything over again?
HD- (Laughing) Oh gosh yes. Looking back, we were all so young, I can say there are lots of things we’d rather do over again. I thought I was so very mature at the time, and now at my ripe old age, I can say that there are a lot of things I would have done over again. But that’s just life. Some people I would have kept in my life and others I would have jetted a lot sooner than I did. I would have done things more calm and collected than I did. But you have to just look back and think that you did the best you could. You’d do it with a little more perspective.
KMJ- You’ve retired fully from music and dove into art full-time haven’t you?
HD- I did. My mom’s a painter and I grew up in a household where music and art kind of ran neck and neck vying for my attention. I knew I had some artistic abilities, but music so grabbed me, that I never gave the art thing any time. I loved it and I collected it. And when I began to make a little bit of money, I became an avid art collector. On the road, we’d always have to stop at art galleries. Santé Fe became one of my favorite places because it’s such an art place. Bit by bit, as my music career began to wind down and as I started to purposefully remove myself from the music business, I began to give myself some time and space to work on my art. This is probably about ten years ago when I really gave myself the opportunity to work on it. At that time, I had made a lot of friends in the art business that were very encouraging to me. They are true artists. They said they’d look at my first fledgling pieces and told me to keep going. It was enough to make me want to keep going. I knew I could write a hit song and sing a hit record, but it’s this whole art thing that still fascinates me. It’s really harder. Music comes out of me so effortlessly. This art thing is much more demanding of me- and I love that though. It’s a challenge. I feel very blessed that I got to have two artistic focuses and endeavors in my life and paths to go on. When I left the music business, I was in my 40’s. What a great blessing it is to totally be able to reinvent yourself and have a whole other passion halfway through your life. I thought I had gotten everything out of the music business that I was going to get. I made a conscious decision one day- I was standing backstage at the Grand Ole Opry- that I could be 80 years old in the same Manuel jacket I had always worn singing “Daddy’s Hands” or I could just say, “Thank you very much.” I had been there 25 years and gotten everything out of it that I was going to get in a big sense and proven everything that I had set out to prove. I just decided to go do something else. And I haven’t regretted it. It wasn’t probably the most sound financial decision I ever made to walk away from six figures. (Laughing) But I’ve never regretted it- it’s led to the chance to do this.
KMJ- Was walking away from your Grand Ole Opry membership the hardest piece of that decision?
HD- It was. And I would still be a member of the Opry if they’d allow it. But I’d been away from it for awhile- I think I’d been gone for two years solidly. And I got a phone call from Pete Fisher. And I knew it was coming. They like to keep the Opry role at about seventy people who are actively performing. And I knew that they’d been adding people since I left. But it hurt. I’m not going to tell you it didn’t. Because I loved the Opry. And I still love the Opry. And I had really participated as a younger member. It wasn’t just something I wanted on my resume like some who said that they wanted to be a member of the Opry and never showed up. I really was an active member. My last two years in Nashville, when I wasn’t on the road, I was at the Opry. I hosted the TV show and I hosted the backstage show for two years. I was Bill Anderson’s substitute host when he couldn’t be there. And I did commercials for them and radio stuff for them and on and on and on. I loved the Opry and what it stood and stands for. That was hard. The day they said they were going to remove me from the cast list that hurt. But I understand and wasn’t surprised. But that was a sad day. But I have some amazing memories. I wish there was a way though to- just to make a suggestion to them- to keep a list of folks that were members in the past. This whole total expunging you from the list is sort of a little harsh I think. There are people on that list, that I know for a fact, that might make it once a year if they’re lucky. It’s a little subjective. That’s my only gripe.
KMJ- Any side singing? Church? Little clubs no one knows about? Karaoke bars? Anything?
HD- (Laughing) No, not really. When I lived in New Mexico, I went to this little community church just literally around the corner from my house and I sang a little bit for them. And that was nice. It kept my chops up. I have a guitar that I keep out in my living room and occasionally I’ll pick it up because I just don’t want to totally lose my skills. But my total creative focus is on my art. I do five or six art shows a year. People come to see me there. I’m growing the art thing. There’s nothing like the music world and nothing will be. Art is a whole different thing. But this fulfills me creatively. I don’t miss the music thing because they both come from the same place. It doesn’t matter if it is a song or a piece of art, I just need to be making something. It puts me in my zone.
KMJ- Mostly southwestern in theme?
HD- I work in photo realistic forms. My work is representational. It’s almost photographic. I work in pastels and it’s highly detailed. I do a lot of southwestern themes because I’m drawn to that. I lived in New Mexico and I’ve gone back and forth between there and Texas since I was a little girl. I love the architecture and the colors of the southwest. I love the sky. I do a lot of iconic images of the southwest. I do a lot of churches. But I also do a lot of wildlife. I’ll pair an old Native American pot or antiquity and put a bird in the picture with it. I like to pair an animate and an inanimate object. I sell everything I make and as long as I keep doing that, I’ll keep chugging along.
KMJ- Do you anticipate ever going back and recording or writing new music?
HD- I never say never. I’m a person who just never closes doors like that- mostly because I have gratitude to the people that I worked with. I don’t see that happening. I’ve been gone so long now. I still get my CMA magazine every quarter and I recognize fewer and fewer of the people in there. I realize I’m getting more and more far away from that business and out of touch. I’m not even sure it’s possible. I’m sure I could go and make a little record. I could drive an hour down to Austin and make a little record by myself and sell it on my website. I could do that. But I don’t have any plans to do that. I might do it someday, but it will just for my own self-satisfaction. There’s not a spot for me in Nashville any longer. They’ve moved on. When you’re off the charts for over a year, you’re as good as gone. How many people do you know that have really ever made a comeback? What they like now is the really young cute little skinny girls. (Laughter) I’m cute- just not as cute as I used to be! It happens to all of us. I just don’t think I want to go out and have to have a lot of surgery to get back to where I’d need to be. That darn father time. I’m probably in the best place I could ever be right now. I’m perfect in my personal life, right nearby my mother and having the time together is really a blessing for both of us.
November 15, 2016 @ 9:57 pm
Hey Ken,
Thanks so much for sharing the interview. I was really saddened when I went looking for an archive of the interview to link to and couldn’t find it online. It’s not only a shame that we’ve lost all of these great blogs, but we’ve also lost all of this important archive material. I really hope someday we can bring it all back. So much of that 9153 and Engine 145 stuff is irreplaceable.
November 16, 2016 @ 12:00 am
The 9513 and Engine 145 are how I wound up here, I miss them, I like variety. It might all be accessible via the Wayback Machine (http://archive.org/web/web.php).
November 15, 2016 @ 10:37 pm
Holly Dunn had a beautiful singing voice and she had a very short singing career from 1986-1997 from 3 records for MTM records, 3 records + greatest hits collection for Warner Brothers, and 3 cd’s River North Records. 2 #1 hits, 7 top 10’s, 2 top 20’s, 1 top 30, and 1 top 40 and several out of top 40. R.I.P. Holly!
November 15, 2016 @ 10:57 pm
Holly Dunn had a string of 11 top-10 singles from 1985 through the beginning of 1991. Then she put out a single called “Maybe I Mean Yes.” In prior eras, that song would have been heard as an innocent, tame flirting song; but in the new p.c. era, it was interpreted by some as promoting date-rape. Her label pulled the single before it could even crack the top-40 and amazingly, she never had another hit! It’s possible that it was largely coincidence–the Garth era was taking off then and a lot of older acts were banished from radio, but it was quite a ridiculous way to end a career.
February 27, 2024 @ 12:04 am
I miss Holly Dunn. I love “Daddy’s Hands” to this day. I was livid when the PC crowd shot “Maybe, I Mean Yes” down in flames. It is a great song about the age old practice of playing hard to get. That’s what women did and how they were brought up. Then the feminists decided to work their way towards the no means no crowd. I guarantee there is not a woman, dead or alive that has not said no to someone, then changed their mind later.
I firmly believe it killed her career. Holly deserved much better from the public, the Opry, and from her fans.
RIP Holly Dunn
November 16, 2016 @ 1:04 am
This is sad news .Sad because as country music fans ,most of us are familiar, to a greater or lesser degree, with Holly Dunn’s music as being a small part of the soundtrack of our lives . But sadder still because in these times 59 is just too young to die . RIP Holly Dunn….and thank you .
November 16, 2016 @ 2:08 am
I was born in 1983 and she was my very first crush. This is very sad reading this but it just brought back some great memories from my childhood watching TNN.
November 16, 2016 @ 6:56 am
Short career but always on our hearts, She wrote ”Daddy’s hands” as a Father’s day gift to her dad. What a great song!
November 16, 2016 @ 9:53 am
I take the Opry about as seriously as I do the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Both are a joke, anymore.
That said, RIP Holly….you had a beautiful voice.
November 16, 2016 @ 6:43 pm
Really saddened and shocked to learn that this talented singer-songwriter has passed away so young. She was definitely one of the better female vocalists on the country charts in the late 1980’s. RIP Holly.
November 19, 2016 @ 4:55 pm
Gone too soon, RIP Holly, we won’t forget you or your music.
September 30, 2019 @ 6:43 pm
I surely hope Holly Dunn’s illness wasn’t in any way related to emotional issues. I know our emotions can have a strong bearing on our body and illness. After all disease at times can come from dis ease within us. I know because I went through deep grief and it turned into a serious illness. Thank God I’m healed. I know how fortunate I am. I just hope Holly Dunn didn’t suffer too much emotionally from her country music experience, to the point of it affecting her body will illness. Perhaps not. I hope not.
February 2, 2022 @ 12:50 am
Music moves on like any entertainment business to the next big thing. If it didn’t, Holly Dunn might not have got her chance. No new artists would get their chance. It’s hard to get to the top and even harder to stay there. I enjoyed her music and she is a sad loss at such a young age. . Condolences to her family and friends. RIP.
July 25, 2022 @ 3:09 pm
D**n !!!!! Holy crap !!!!! Holly Dunn passed away ? I thought she was going to have a great career,but “Maybe I Mean Yes”,which hit about the time of the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings in ’91,ended her career,as feminists believe the song trivialized sexual harrassment and assault .RIP,Holly !!!!!