Brenda Mae Tarpley

She was born in the charity ward of a Georgia hospital on December the 11th, 1944. Five years later she won top prize singing in a talent contest. The achievement led to repeat performances on an Atlanta radio station and a regular singing job on local television WAGA-TV, all by the age of seven. The television job offered publicity, the radio gig paid in ice cream, all she could eat.

Although Brenda’s parents were working long hours in the Georgia cotton mills, they were barely getting by when Brenda’s beloved father was killed in a construction accident. The tiny girl with the booming voice and natural stage presence was the obvious choice to supplement the family income. Brenda Mae Tarpley began singing professionally to help support her mom and siblings. She was nine years old.

Of course, you know her better as Brenda Lee, a stage name given to her by a television producer. The change may have made her name more memorable, but the performer didn’t need the help. The little songbird, known as Little Miss Dynamite, may never have grown taller than four foot eleven but she had a voice no one could forget.

Almost two decades after her first Number One pop hit, “I’m Sorry” and her wildly popular
seasonal favorite, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, Brenda Lee crossed over from pop to country in the middle seventies and continued lighting up the charts. This member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has sold more than 100 million records and she continues to perform today, more than fifty years after her first performance.

In today’s Southern Quote, Brenda Mae Tarpley opines on an aspect of her incredible career she most treasures. Brenda Lee has said, “The amazing thing is that I’m sane. I’m not bitter. I’m not drugged out. I’m not broke. I’m still married to the same guy and my
children don’t hate me.”

Way to go, Brenda Mae Tarpley. All Things Southern salutes you!