Pam Tillis | |
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![]() Tillis in 2010 | |
Born | Pamela Yvonne Tillis July 24, 1957 Plant City, Florida, U.S. |
Alma mater | University of Tennessee |
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Years active | 1978–present |
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Father | Mel Tillis |
Musical career | |
Origin | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Genres | Country[1] |
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Website | www |
Pamela Yvonne Tillis (born July 24, 1957)[1][2] is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is the eldest child of country singer Mel Tillis. After recording unsuccessful pop material for Elektra and Warner Records in the early 1980s, Tillis shifted to country music. In 1989, she signed with Arista Nashville, entering top-40 on Hot Country Songs for the first time with "Don't Tell Me What to Do" in 1990. This was the first of five singles from her breakthrough album Put Yourself in My Place.
Tillis recorded five more albums for Arista Nashville in the next ten years, including a greatest hits album. She charted twelve top-ten hits on the Billboard country music charts with Arista, including the number-one "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)" in 1995. Other major hits of hers include her signature song "Maybe It Was Memphis", along with "Shake the Sugar Tree", "Spilled Perfume", a cover of Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk in the Room", and "All the Good Ones Are Gone". After exiting Arista, Tillis released It's All Relative: Tillis Sings Tillis for Lucky Dog Records in 2002, and RhineStoned and the Christmas album Just in Time for Christmas on her own Stellar Cat label in 2007. Her albums Homeward Looking Angel (1992), Sweetheart's Dance (1994), and Greatest Hits (1997) are all certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, while Put Yourself in My Place and 1995's All of This Love are certified gold.
She has won two major awards: a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 1999 for the multiple-artist collaboration "Same Old Train", and the 1994 Country Music Association award for Female Vocalist of the Year. In 2000, she was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. In addition to her own work, Tillis has written songs for Barbara Fairchild, Juice Newton, and Highway 101, among others. Tillis's music style is defined by her singing voice, along with her influences of country, pop, and jazz.