“Miss Country Soul” and Opry Legend Jeannie Seely Has Died
With the loss of Jeannie Seely, country music doesn’t just lose a singer, songwriter, and performer. It loses one of the most venerable, most beloved, and most important ties to country music’s enduring legacy, one of the most revered women to ever grace the genre, and one of the most accomplished and constant voices of the Grand Ole Opry for the better part of a century. “Miss Country Soul,” and the modern era’s mother of the Opry passed on August 1st at the age of 85.
Before Miss Seely took her final bow, she made an incredible 5,397 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry—a record that might never be eclipsed. At the time of her death, she was considered the oldest living woman in country music with an active career. An actor, an author, a DJ, an a natural Master of Ceremonies wherever she appeared, Jeannie Seely’s legacy stretched well beyond the Opry and country music. But it’s within that country community that she worked so hard to keep so close-knit where her passing is felt the most.
Jeannie Seely’s first home was in Titusville, Pennsylvania, where she was born July 6th, 1940. Via a Philco console radio that looked more like a piece of furniture than an electronic device, Seely would first hear the magic sounds of The Grand Ole Opry beaming in from Nashville’s WSM, and fell fast in love with the music. By age 11, she began performing on a local radio show via WMGW. But the age of 16, she’d moved to early TV with appearances on WICU in Erie, PA.
Early on, Seely was able to share the stage and meet artists such as Bill Monroe, Little Jimmy Dickens, and Jean Shepard, but saw it as a fantasy that she would ever get to perform on the Grand Ole Opry beside them. A cheerleader in high school, after she graduated, she worked for local companies in secretarial positions, but at the age of 21, decided to point her nose toward Los Angeles. Eventually she took a job at Liberty and Imperial Records as a secretary. From there, she started writing songs for others, and performing with another up-and-coming act in Glen Campbell on the Hollywood Jamboree.
In 1964, Jeannie Seely was named the “Most Promising Female Artist” by the West Coast-centric Country and Western Academy, which later became known as the ACM Awards. Then in 1966, she released her big breakout single, “Don’t Touch Me.” It was her soulful voice unique to the country airwaves that earned her the name “Miss Country Soul,” and launched her career into the mainstream.
Though Seely would regularly enjoy occasional hits well into the late ’70s, it really wasn’t her chart success where she made her biggest impact. Becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry on September 16, 1967, it began a partnership that would be one of the most significant in the country music’s institution’s long history. Seely became the first woman to regularly hosts segments on Opry shows. She wore the first mini-skirt on the Opry stage, helping to usher the show into a new era. Soon, Seely and the Opry became synonymous with each other.
Though she had other signature songs such as 1967’s “I’ll Love You More (Than You Need),” “Can I Sleep In Your Arms” and “Lucky Ladies” (1973), it was really hearing Seely’s voice in Opry broadcasts where many country music fans found favor with Miss Country Soul. Seely also found success in partnership with Jack Greene, hitting #2 with “Wish I Didn’t Have To Miss You” (1969), “Much Oblige,” (1971), and “What in the World Has Gone Wrong With Our Love” (1972).
A big portion of Jeannie Seely’s legacy that’s often overlooked was her work as a songwriter. Songs written or co-written by Seely were recorded by Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Ernest Tubb, Faron Young, Little Jimmy Dickens, Connie Smith, Hank Williams Jr., Ray Price, Chris LeDoux, and more. She was also married to songwriting legend Hank Cochran from 1969 to 1979.
Jeannie Seely’s acting career was also of note, including in stage productions of Patsy Cline and The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. She also appeared in the Willie Nelson film Honeysuckle Rose, and sang on the soundtrack.
When visiting Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry, you’ll see little markers all around the city in tribute to Jeannie Seely, speaking to her legacy. The off ramp to the Grand Ole Opry on Briley Parkway is affectionately known as the Jeannie Seely Interchange. She’s commemorated on the Music City Walk of Fame. Studio Space at the SAG-AFTRA office on Music Row is named after her.
But it’s on the Grand Ole Opry stage where most memories will lead back to whenever remembering Jeannie Seely. This is where her legacy shined, and where she became a legend in country music, getting to perform next to the legends before her like Bill Monroe, Little Jimmy Dickens, and Jean Shepard.
Along with funeral plans in the works, the Grand Ole Opry has announced that the Saturday presentation on August 2nd will be dedicated to its most prolific performer, segment host, and beloved family member.
Jeannie Seely is gone. But the contributions she made to the Opry, to Nashville, and to the women of country music will live on through her memory.
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August 1, 2025 @ 5:26 pm
Loved listening to her show on Sundays on Willie’s roadhouse, gonna miss that. Both her and Flaco today is a rough one.
August 3, 2025 @ 6:05 pm
Very sad. Jeannie will truly be missed. I listen to Willie Nelson’s “Willie’s Roadhouse” on Siriusxm every day. Jeannie hosted the program at times. I already miss hearing her.
August 1, 2025 @ 5:49 pm
Damn…feels like we lost a family member. My wife and I are newer to country music so came to “know” Jeannie hearing the Saturday night Opry in the car. Loved her spirit, her humor, and orneriness. Rest in peace dear Jeannie.
August 2, 2025 @ 8:35 am
We lost another legend and great singer RIP Jeannie
August 1, 2025 @ 6:02 pm
Really nice tribute.
“Don’t Touch Me” is the sexiest song in country music. Songs today can’t hold a candle to it.
RIP, Miss Jeannie.
August 2, 2025 @ 6:20 am
Written by her ex-husband Hank Cochrane. The epitome of a classic song and recording.
August 2, 2025 @ 10:56 am
Molly Pitney once delivered it perfectly. It’s on YT.
August 2, 2025 @ 5:49 pm
Jamey Johnson and Emmylou did a duet of it his Hank Cochrane tribute album as well.
August 1, 2025 @ 6:41 pm
Was blessed to see her perform at the Opry in 2021. She also came out on stage with a cellphone to give to Rhonda Vincent, who got a call just then that her new grandchild was born!
Classy lady and a true leader of the Opry. Over 5,000 appearances is just incredible.
August 1, 2025 @ 6:41 pm
Oh dear, this one really hurts. Nobody represented country music as an institution more than Jeannie. She didn’t have her usual Sunday show on Willie’s Roadhouse this week, and I wondered why that was. Guess we know now. Rest in peace Mrs. Seely.
August 1, 2025 @ 7:00 pm
She gained a whole new audience as a songwriter thanks to “Black Mirror”, which used her co-write “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is” (an R&B hit for Irma Thomas) in a few episodes. She commented on this on the Opry, saying something to the effect of “I just found out that I’m hipper than you or I could have imagined.”
August 1, 2025 @ 9:10 pm
Bettye Swann also had an R&B and pop hit with her version of “Don’t Touch Me” in 1969.
August 1, 2025 @ 7:21 pm
Interesting that Jeannie Seeley laid claim to being the first woman to wear a miniskirt on the Oprys stage.
Because her name (audibly, if not as written) was near identical to that of a more famous, style-setting woman singer, about 6 years her junior, who wore miniskirts and was associated with the most celebrated miniskirt in the history of country music.
I’m referring to a certain lyric:
“And they were sure surprised when Mrs. Johnson wore her miniskirt into the room
And as she walked up to the blackboard, I can still recall the words she had to say
She said, “‘I’d like to address this meeting of the Harper Valley P.T.A.'”
The singer, of course, was Jeannie C. Riley, who’s still living but has kept a low profile for a lot of years.
I have a feeling that Jeannie C. Riley–or her spokesperson–may feel the need to issue a Mark Twain-style statement in the next week that she’s very much alive, due to the confusion that ensues from the close similarity of the two singers’ names, especially when heard over the radio or TV.
August 2, 2025 @ 6:39 am
Funny, the first song that popped into my head when I heard Jeannie Seeley had died was “Satin Sheets.” Oops, Not Seeley, not Riley — Pruett. And then I realized that I couldn’t actually come up with Seeley’s signature song.
August 2, 2025 @ 8:08 am
Yes, exactly.
August 1, 2025 @ 7:29 pm
It’s so devastating that she didn’t live long enough to see herself inducted into the Hall of Fame. She absolutely deserves to be in there but sadly, it will be posthumously.
She was such a mentor to the women of the genre, specifically people like Lorrie Morgan, Rhonda Vincent, Trisha Yearwood, and Carly Pearce, who will keep her legacy alive on the Opry.
It’s also notable how she continued recording and performing right up until her death. Her most recent two albums, 2017’s “Written in Song”, and 2020’s “An American Classic” are both great listens, which isn’t always the case when someone gets deep into their career. I’ve been playing both tonight in honour of Jeannie. She had a great ability to make you feel like she was an old friend even though you’d never met her. I’ll miss hearing her on the Opry.
August 1, 2025 @ 7:51 pm
It’s deaths like this that really drive home why we need reform in the Hall of Fame process. Jeannie Seely should have been able to experience that joy in life. At this point, there might be a dozen other people that need to get in before she will, and they all deserve it.
What are we doing? What purpose does this serve? We all agree we want to keep the honor exclusive. But it shouldn’t be next to impossible in an artist’s life.
August 1, 2025 @ 8:29 pm
I know there’s been a concerted push to get Jeannie Seely elected the H-o-F. From size of her Wikipedia pages, you’d think she’s Rosemary Clooney or Connie Francis–both bona fide American icons.
If Seeley does merit induction into the H-o-F, it’s on the strength of her Opry longevity. She was not a major country music star. She had three top-10 hits of her own, plus one more for a duet with Jack Greene. In part that’s no-doubt due to her singing sensual songs in a soulful style that was not the country norm–at least not until Sammi Smith took “Help Me Make It Through the Night” to #1.
They need to let two legacy acts in at a time because if Jeannie Seeley goes in then her duet partner Jack Greene definitely should go in at the same time. Unlike Seeley, he WAS a full fledged country star, with two mammoth #1’s, “There Goes My Everything” and “Statue of a Fool” and several other top 10’s.
August 2, 2025 @ 6:30 am
I would disagree with her HOF case but she had more solo hits than June Carter, so what the heck, toss her in there, too.
Johnny Horton should be the next inductee ten years ago but honoring legends isn’t as fun as diversity picks.
August 2, 2025 @ 9:07 am
I feel like we’ve had this discussion many times before, but the Country Music Hall of Fame is not a skills competition. I disagreed with the June Carter pick, at least over many more deserving artists. I would also agree there are Veterans Era artists much more deserving that Jeannie Seely at this moment. She can’t get in now anyway because you can’t be inducted the year after your death.
However, the fact that Seely performed at the Opry more than anyone else, and was so important to that institution is not insignificant. And no, she was not a hit machine, but she did have hits, and multiple successful singles. I do think she is Hall of Fame worthy. That fact that there are even more Hall of Fame worthy people ahead of her is not her fault. That’s the Hall of Fame’s.
August 2, 2025 @ 12:25 pm
It’s a tacky discussion to have in an obituary.
August 2, 2025 @ 12:41 pm
I agree, and this same line of discussion came up on the recent obituary of Helen Cornelius. I am always going to err on the side of being more complimentary than critical of anyone’s legacy in the aftermath of their passing. I’m not going to lie, and I’m not going to obfuscate if there’s something scandalous in their past. But I am going to eulogize, and it’s a little frustrating that people use these moments to measure artist against each other. That said, I believe these country legends should be honored in life by the Hall of Fame. If we think Jeannie Seely is a Hall of Famer, she should have been inducted while she was still with us to enjoy it.
August 3, 2025 @ 9:06 am
If it isn’t a skills competition, then what it is? A money driven hall? Who campaigns the most or has the best PR team?
I rail against the June and Ray Stevens picks because they were awful selections. I appreciate how the Country Music HOF limits its numbers. Induction adds gravitas to the ceremony.
Hits shouldn’t be the main factor. Longevity of one’s material should matter. DAC lacked a commercially successful career but his music is constantly played now. I listen heavily to oldies stations and I have never heard a Seely song. The Opry is important, but playing there for decades, because the stab at A-list stardom failed doesn’t warrant the HOF.
To borrow from the PFRA, she belongs in the Hall of the Very Good. There is no shame in that.
August 2, 2025 @ 10:59 am
I think there’s pretty wide agreement that June Carter Cash was a bad pick–at least as a solo artist. If they had inducted the Carter Sisters, including June, Helen and Anita, who carried on the Carter Family with Mother Maybelle into the 1960s and ’70s, it would have been unctontroversial and a better choice all around. In any event, one bad pick is not a good reason for lowering standards and making more bad picks.
Yes, the Opry is important in the history of country music, and Jeannie Seeley made a lof of appearances, but in all honesty, the distinct faces of the Opry that visitors drove hundreds of miles or flew into Nashville to see were names like Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Minnie Pearl of course, “Little” Jimmy Dickens, Porter Wagoner, Jean Shepard, and later Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, Bill Anderson, and they’re all in the Hall of Fame.
If they want to put in yet another Opry star–Jeannie Seely–that’s fine, but I think inducting a few major country music stars who’ve been passed over–among women whose careers go back 50-plus years, I’d say the absences of Lynn Anderson, Anne Murray and Crystal Gayle are more needing of remedy.
August 4, 2025 @ 2:58 pm
I have a theory on June. First I completely agree she was a terrible pic. Secondly, I am huge Marty Stuart fan. That said? Here goes:
1. Marty is more influential with HOF than what may be supposed
2. Marty is a huge Cash fan
3. June’s pic coincides with Marty’s great contribution of his memorabilia to HOF
Coincidence?
August 4, 2025 @ 3:23 pm
Not at all.
I advanced the same theory, myself. Marty is a prominent member of the Cash Cult.
August 5, 2025 @ 1:07 am
Marty Stuart was also a horrible HOF choice. The rewriting of his career in the past decade or so has been astounding. I remember when Marty was in his heyday in the 90s. He was never even made it to a Lorrie Morgan status.
August 5, 2025 @ 7:00 am
Again, the Hall of Fame is not a stat competition. Marty Stuart has arguably done more to preserve the history of country music in the last 25 years than anyone. Often the reason we get angry that someone is in the Hall of Fame is because so many other deserving people are not. That is not the fault of Marty Stuart. That’s the fault of the Hall of Fame’s austere induction process that needs to be reformed.
August 8, 2025 @ 5:59 am
Say what you want about Marty’s career and “hits”, but I saw him in concert a few months ago with his band, and I can honestly say it was one of the best live concerts I’ve ever seen in my life, and that’s any genre! His talent is all encompassing as a songwriter, singer, instrumentalist and all-around entertainer. That, and his lifelong quest to preserve the artifacts and history of country music, makes him definitely HAF worthy in my book.
August 1, 2025 @ 7:59 pm
Jeannie also received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Lincoln Memorial University in 2019. She was a treasure. She got me backstage at the Opry anytime I wanted and we got to write a little together. She was a pistol. I’ll forever be grateful for her friendship.
August 1, 2025 @ 8:10 pm
Hey Conrad,
My condolences to you. I know y’all were close.
August 1, 2025 @ 8:00 pm
Written by her ex-husband Hank Cochrane. The epitome of a classic song and recording.
August 2, 2025 @ 2:20 am
She made lots of appearances on the Country’s Family Reunion series, maybe even appearing on every single video, at least the ones I saw. Every song she sang resonated with heart and soul, she will be greatly missed
August 2, 2025 @ 6:26 am
Every time I heard her hosting the Opry, I thought about how much she must love it to keep at it into her 80s. Was just wondering recently how long she would keep at it. Til the end. RIP.
August 2, 2025 @ 2:54 pm
And look at what she saw at the Opry over the years. From nothing but Country and Bluegrass acts on the stage to her last show on February 22 where Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers performed (and Ringo appeared the night before!).
August 2, 2025 @ 8:04 am
She had talent, like most of the folks from back then.
These days you’re only as good as the software you’re using – or most important, the PR company you hired.
But Hall of Fame? Not taking anything away from her legacy, but she should not be inducted on behalf of several other, more deserving artists. Gary Stewart, David Allan Coe, even Melba Montgomery and Stoney Edwards if diversity needs to be checked off.
Hell, Edwards deserves a spot simply because he was one heck of a country singer/songwriter, when most of his contemporaries wasn’t.
Isn’t that the main criteria anyways?
August 2, 2025 @ 1:19 pm
Sofus,
I’m a fan of Stoney Edward’s. I get the enthusiasm for him. However, he hardly made a blip in the industry. He simply never blew up to the level of Charley Pride for example. Honestly, Stoney is kind of a footnote in the history. Not a slam, there’s a lot of folks like that. Seriously, most music fans never heard of him. Jeannie is a much bigger name, mainly on the strength of her Opry tenure.
August 2, 2025 @ 3:53 pm
Oh well, they put that pill-popping truck driver from Tupelo in the HoF some years ago. Their criterion for induction seems to be commercially orientated, first and foremost.
It’s Nashville, after all. Money matters the most, not talent.
August 2, 2025 @ 5:35 pm
Probably every frakking performer on that stage would say that “that pill-popping truck driver from Tupelo” was the most talented performer they ever saw.
August 3, 2025 @ 2:12 am
But he doesn’t belong in the Country Music Hall of Fame, that’s the point.
August 2, 2025 @ 11:26 am
I realize this is such a little thing compared to all the wonderful memories mentioned, but gosh, how I loved the times when she would share the beautiful, peaceful view from her window. ♥️
August 10, 2025 @ 11:24 pm
Elvis had 50 top forty songs, 31 top ten songs and 11 #1 songs on the Billboard country chart. Just because his sound wasn’t traditional doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be in the HOF.
August 2, 2025 @ 1:33 pm
I got to meet Jeannie backstage at the Country Music Hall of Fame one Saturday morning a few years back, and was impressed by not only her kindness but her work ethic and stamina for a woman who was then in her early 80s. In addition to performing at the hall of fame that morning, she performed on the Opry that night and then at a taping for the relaunched Ernest Tubb’s Midnight Jamboree radio show. I happened to be at the radio taping as well, and when I left the Troubadour Theatre in the early hours of Sunday morning, Jeannie was still there, still going strong.
August 2, 2025 @ 1:58 pm
RIP Jeannie Seely.
One of the great interpreters of country songs in country music history.
August 2, 2025 @ 3:20 pm
Lovely tribute trigger! RIP and wish I could have seen her at the opry in person. She seems like an amazing woman. What a loss for the community.
August 2, 2025 @ 6:33 pm
She had 4 top ten singles. This is not a hall of fame career.
I am not a hater. She was never a major star. Mini skirts, which seems to be a focal point of her career, do not warrant HOF access.
August 3, 2025 @ 8:54 am
I agree. Her resume is too slight.
The issue is, June Carter’s induction lowered the baseline so much that any singer with one top ten hit has better credentials.
It is why poor picks are damaging to a HOF. It opens the door for compounding the era.
Seely’s supporters are going to point to her multiple solo hits, charting albums, and Grand Old Opry stardom. All of which dwarf June’s accomplishments.
August 3, 2025 @ 3:47 pm
Her resume is way too slight. I am probably a rare one – but as a statistician of country music charts, for an observation of an artist’s career, I tend to focus on the iconic songs that changed music, or simply the top ten hits. A #72 or a #37 doesn’t lend itself to the battle of historic career stats or HOF access. Whether it’s Jeannie Seely, or anyone else, if you spent your career in the lower ranks – and Jeannie did – these are not credible stats in my book to consider a HOF thought – when peaking at #27.
I agree with your June Carter view. The door was thrown wide open.
August 3, 2025 @ 5:07 pm
@randy–I agree with you on Ms. Seeley, but i don’t say chart placements are everything. Some people push Allison Krauss for the H-o-f. She may not have the chart placements, but she’s also a great fiddle player, has been successful in bluegrass and country and has done a lot of high-profile collaborations. I think there’s a good chance she’ll get in and I’d be happy if she did.
And No, June Carter Cash does not “throw open the door” to everyone. One questionable inductee does not turn the Hall into the Nashville International Airport main terminal. There’s still only one veteran inductee a year, and voters should pick a worthty artist.
August 3, 2025 @ 9:05 am
I think we need about 5 years in a row that to play catch up and induct these artists!
Al Dexter
Archie Campbell
The Bellamy Brothers
Boxcar Willie
Carl Butler and Pearl
Cousin Jody
Cowboy Copas
Crook Brothers
Crystal Gayle
David Houston
Del Reeves
Del Wood
Elton Britt
Freddie Hart
Gary Stewart
George Hamilton IV
Goldie Hill
Gram Parsons
Hawkshaw Hawkins
Homer and Jethro
Humphrey Bates
Jack Greene
Jan Howard
Jeannie Pruett
Jeannie Seely
Jerry Clower
Jimmy C. Newman
Jimmy Martin
Jimmy Wakley
John Denver
John Hartford
Johnnie & Jack
Johnny Horton
Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Rodriguez
June Carter
Justin Tubb
Lew Childre
Little Joe Carson
Liz Anderson
Lonzo and Oscar
Lynn Anderson
Maddox Brother’s & Rose
Margie Singleton
Martha Carson
Melba Montgomery
Mickey Gilley
Moon Mullican
Nat Stuckey
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Norma Jean
Rosanne Cash
Rose Maddox
Roy Drusky
Sam & Kirk Magee
Sammi Smith
Skeeter Davis
Slim Whitman
Stonewall Jackson
Texas Ruby
Tompall Glaser & The Glaser Brothers
Uncle Jimmy Thompson
Vern Gosdin
Wanda Jackson
Warner Mack
The Wilburn Brothers
Wilma Lee Cooper
Wynn Stewart
August 3, 2025 @ 11:21 am
The CMHOF website states that Homer & Jethro were inducted in 2001.
August 3, 2025 @ 2:49 pm
I think that a case can be made that 3/4 of those on the above list lack the important criteria for Hall Of Fame admission. This is what the CMA states is the criteria for Hall Of Fame admission as posted to their website:
“The Country Music Association (CMA), the country music industry’s trade organization, created the Country Music Hall of Fame honor to recognize significant contributions to the advancement of country music by individuals in both the creative and business communities.”
If an artist’s ONLY claim to fame is scoring hit records then that does not completely fulfill the entire criteria. The HOF is NOT a popularity contest like the CMA or ACM Awards but to recognize those who have made long-lasting and SIGNIFICANT contributions to country music at large, or to the industry in the case of the “behind the scenes” executives/producers/etc.
An essential question to be asked is, had that person never come along, would country music be missing a significant element, style or sound? And further, did that person’s career expand the country music universe and/or have they influenced subsequent generations of country performers? Seems to me that some of the recent inductees have fallen short of that criteria.
The HOF should be an EXCLUSIVE club not an inclusive one that automatically inducts anyone that has ever had a country music chart hit. Many of those listed above are fine singers and performers but are not “Hall-worthy.” HOF membership is not a reward for a long string of hit recordings or substantial sales of recordings or for sustaining a long duration in the country music industry.
The bar for admission SHOULD be high. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Does everybody deserve a trophy?
August 3, 2025 @ 5:42 pm
The H-o-F is no less or no more a “popularity contest” than the CMA or ACM awards. Those awards also have “criteria” and are supposed to reward excellence. And, in fact, the awards for best album, best song, best single, top vocalist, E-o-Y etc., have many times gone to an artiest or projec that was not the top-seller in the category, for the year.
August 4, 2025 @ 5:56 am
That is not true.
You may not be aware that the CMA and ACM Awards are voted by industry professionals not the fans or the general public. Membership in the CMA and ACM includes thousands of employees for record labels that usually vote in blocks for “their” artists. Artist management and publishing companies are also represented by strong factions. So of course those awards can be subject to manipulation and bias.But they are not as much of a “popularity” contest as they are a battle of constituencies.
To your point, sales is not the sole deciding factor in determining award winners and really never has been nor should it be. If that was true crossover acts with massive sales would generally run the table at every awards show.
The Country Music Hall Of Fame nominations and awards are decided by a special select (secret) panel of music industry professionals. There is no large enough single faction to sway or control a considerable portion of the votes. I have often taken issue with their choices but they are based upon individual perspectives and opinions of the panel rather than a “block” vote by one entity. “Popularity” perhaps plays a role but does not seem to be the ultimate deciding factor in most cases.
August 3, 2025 @ 9:59 am
She was a true trailblazer, a terrific entertainer, and a very gracious lady to those privileged to know her. She and Skeeter Davis were the first stars I interviewed (in a joint interview) when sent to the Opry to do a series of radio interviews, and it was a great way to begin the series. It is a shame she was never inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame prior to her passing.
August 4, 2025 @ 10:23 am
Bill Friskics-Warren wrote an obituary of Jeenie Seely in the New York Times that, while it does not mention the Country Music H-oF, by highlighting her groundbreaking actions and achievements, it makes a strong case for her belonging.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/arts/music/jeannie-seely-dead.html
August 4, 2025 @ 3:46 pm
I really feel sad about this. It was just two years ago that I watched the Ken Burns series and developed a serious interest in country music. I quickly got into the habit of streaming the Opry on Saturday nights, and Jeannie Seely was ever-present, usually the first performer of the night, telling the slightly off-color jokes, and delighting the crowd with her music. It honestly never occurred to me that a performance I was listening to might be one of her last ones. She came across as so vibrant and alive that she seemed like she’d be on that stage for way more than 6,000 performances. I’m grateful for the times I got to hear her perform. Heaven’s gain is our loss.