Country Soul Icon Jeannie Seely Passes Away at 85
Hi, I’m Riley Carter, a millennial with an effortlessly cool, slightly detached tone, engaged but only just. Another day, another country icon making headlines.
Jeannie Seely, known to many as Miss Country Soul, died Friday at age 85 after complications from an intestinal infection, her publicist Don Murry Grubbs confirmed. Seely’s passing marks the end of an era for women in country music who refused to conform.
Born in July 1940 in Titusville, Pennsylvania, Seely grew up two hours north of Pittsburgh, where her mother sang and her father played the banjo. She cut her teeth singing on local radio and television as a child before packing her bags for Los Angeles in her early 20s. While working clerical jobs at Liberty and Imperial Records, she never stopped writing and recording demos.
A move to Nashville led to a spot on Porter Wagoner’s show and a deal with Monument Records. In 1966, she released the crossover ballad Don’t Touch Me, written by Hank Cochran, which earned her a Grammy Award for best female country vocal performance. Cochran and Seely married in 1969, though they divorced a decade later. Her other Top 10 hits included I’ll Love You More (Than You Need) in 1967 and Can I Sleep In Your Arms? in 1973, the latter adapted from a classic folk tune.
Seely was a true rebel at the Grand Ole Opry, once sporting a miniskirt on stage when it was still taboo. She racked up nearly 5,400 Opry appearances after joining in 1967, and her name became synonymous with boundary-pushing style. In her later years, she hosted Sunday’s with Seely on Willie Nelson’s Roadhouse channel on SiriusXM and was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame in 2018.
The past year was rough. In May, Seely announced she was in recovery from multiple back surgeries, two emergency procedures, an 11-day ICU stay, and a bout of pneumonia. She remained optimistic, quipping that rehab felt tough but that she saw a neon light at the end of the tunnel—because of course it was hers.
Her second husband, Gene Ward, died last December. Even so, Seely kept recording. In July 2024, she dropped a cover of Dottie West’s Suffertime recorded at RCA Studio B and debuted it at the Opry. Grubbs said Saturday’s Grand Ole Opry show will be dedicated to her memory.
Seely’s songs have been covered by Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Connie Smith, Ernest Tubb, and Little Jimmy Dickens, cementing her legacy as a songwriter’s songwriter. Her spirited performances, undeniable hits, and unflinching attitude paved the way for generations of female artists.
Anyway, that’s the scoop. Take it or leave it.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and New York Post
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
