Patty Loveless is a singer that used to be one of the biggest names in country music, but you don’t see all that much from her nowadays. Patty performed regularly up until the mid-2000s, when tragedy struck. Though she has since resumed performing in a reduced capacity, she no longer tours the world. Join Facts Verse as we take a look at the sad reason you don’t see Patty Loveless these days.
Patty Loveless Was Just Another Coal Miner’s Daughter
Patty Loveless was born in Pikesville, Kentucky, on January 4, 1956. Like country-legend Loretta Lynn before her, Patty was the daughter of a coal miner. It seems that being the child of a coal miner does something to a person to make them want to become a country star. As Loretta had two older siblings that wanted to get into the country-music scene, as well. Loretta’s two older siblings named Roger and Dottie. And it from them then Loretta gained her own dreams of country-music stardom. Dottie was a singer and Roger was an instrumentalist, and together they formed the Singin’ Swingin’ Rameys. Ramey the family name, and Patty Loveless known as Patricia Lee Ramey at the time of her birth. It wouldn’t until after getting involved with her first husband, Terry Lovelace, that Patricia would come up with her more famous stage name.
Loretta’s older sister married and decided to stop singing while Patty entering into her teenage years. Which left a slot open for a singer in the family band. Patty actively campaigned to fill the slot, and her brother ended up letting her in. With Loretta’s vocals, the Singin’ Swingin’ Rameys found more success than they ever had before!
The success of the Singin’ Swingin’ Rameys led to Roger Ramey forming a relationship with notable country-music figure Porter Wagoner. Porter Wagoner was a legendary country singer, as well as the star of The Porter Wagoner Show. Porter Wagoner the person who gave Dolly Parton her big break. And Roger got the idea that Porter might be able to give Patty a break, as well.
Patty Worked with Porter Wagoner
Roger introduced his Patty Loveless to Porter Wagoner when she was only 14 years old. Porter took an interest in the young woman, believing that she could be the next big thing. This relationship helped Loretta gain more traction in the country-music scene. However, she still had to finish high school first! Patty graduated in 1973, and it was after this that Porter helped get her a gig as a vocalist working with the Wilburn Brothers Band. The band comprised of two brothers by the names of Doyle and Teddy. Patty’s work with the band is what led to her moving to Nashville.
Patty performed back-up vocals for the Wilburn Brothers Band, and other members of the band included drummer Terry Lovelace. Patty and Terry took to each other not long after Patty joined the band. And they went on to tie the knot in 1976. Following their wedding, the couple moved to North Carolina and continued performing country music there.
Patty and her new husband didn’t find nearly as much success performing in North Carolina as they had with the Wilburn Brothers Band in Nashville. In fact, Patty soon had to take up a daytime gig waiting tables at a restaurant that owned by Terry’s mother. Patty slaved the days away, yet still dreamed of superstardom at night. Meanwhile, her marriage to Terry was coming apart for other reasons.
Patty’s First Marriage Wasn’t the Smoothest
Patty’s parents had never approved of their daughter marrying Terry Lovelace and moving to North Carolina. And the couple ended up not getting along very well once they were there. As a result of their lack of success in the country-music scene, both Patty and her husband turned to substance abuse. The 1970s were certainly rough on Patty, and things got worse when her father passed away in 1979 from black lung disease. Which was common amongst miners. Her father’s death made even more tragic due to the fact that Patty and him had previously fallen out over her marriage. Finally, in the mid-1980s, Patty and her first husband divorced. However, Patty kept an alternative spelling of her first husband’s last name for her stage name.
After divorcing from first husband Terry Lovelace, Patty Loveless packed her bags and headed back to Nashville. Given that Nashville was the place to be. Patty ended up finding more success there than she had back in North Carolina. This time, Patty didn’t even need the Wilburn Brothers Band to help her get it! If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Patty Finally Found Success in the Mid-1980s
Soon after returning to Nashville in the mid-1980s and beginning to cut demos, Patty Loveless signed to RCA Records. Thus, the first significant period of the artist’s solo career was born! While signed to RCA Records, Patty released five successful albums and toured around the world nonstop. She also performed on television, which helped her increase her profile immensely. Soon, Patty was a star!
In 1989, Patty Loveless decided to try her hand at marriage another time. Patty once again decided to marry someone that she was working with, which isn’t always that wise of a decision. However, it seems that Patty’s marriage is going pretty well after several decades. In fact, the success of Patty’s second marriage is one of the reasons that we don’t see the singer performing all that much nowadays!
Patty’s second husband is a man by the name of Emory Gordy Jr., who is also the producer of her music. The duo has been together for over three decades at this point. And it appears as if they’re going to be spending the rest of their lives together. However, Patty’s relationship with RCA Records not meant to last. Patty parted ways with the record label in 1992, and subsequently signed with Epic Records. From the outside looking in, it appeared that Patty’s time with Epic Records was going to be epic! While it certainly ended up being so eventually, tragedy struck early on into Patty’s tenure with the label. This tragedy caused the singer to have to stop performing for almost a year.
Patty Has Taken a Few Big Breaks Over the Years
Not long after signing with Epic Records, Patty Loveless began suffering from a strange pain in her throat. When the singer went to the doctors to have it checked out. It was found that there was an enlarged blood vessel in the singer’s throat that was going to necessitate surgery. The throat surgery that Patty underwent certainly ended up fixing the problem. But it also caused the singer to have to take a break from singing for a total of nine months. Thankfully, when the singer was healed, she could sing better than ever!
After being out of commission for nine months due to her corrective throat surgery, Patty made her return to the world of country music by performing at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. The performance also happened to mark the singer’s 36th birthday. Patty worked long and hard to get to where she is. And she has continued to perform at the Grand Ole Opry every year since. However, she no longer tours. Instead, she prefers to spend time with her family.
Patty Loveless remained signed to Epic Records until 2005. In the mid-2000s, tragedy struck again when Patty suffered the loss of both her mother and her mother-in-law. This caused Patty to take a break from singing that lasted for nearly three years. With the exception of a few performances alongside her husband at the Grand Ole Opry. She gradually started returning to the spotlight in 2007, when she worked as a judge at the Independent Music Awards.
Patty Is Still Performing, but in a Diminished Capacity
Patty knew that she couldn’t keep away from recording for long, and her and her husband eventually went back to making new music. Feeling that her days of filling arenas and releasing best-selling albums under Epic Records were done, Patty decided to instead release more subdued fare on a smaller record label. Her and her husband got back to their country roots and released an album called Sleepless Nights, which received a Grammy Award nomination in the category of Best Country Album. Patty’s subsequent releases have been even more nostalgic, with one securing a Grammy Award win in the category of Best Bluegrass Album. That album was named Mountain Soul II.
After getting back into the swing of the things in the studio, Patty Loveless decided that she was ready to resume touring in the late 2000s. However, this period of touring only lasted for a couple of years before the singer decided that she wanted to go back to performing only every once in a while, and mostly at the Grand Ole Opry. In 2011, Patty Loveless was inducted to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame.
Nowadays, Patty Loveless continues to perform at the Grand Ole Opry every year, and she can also be found performing on the annual Country Music Cruise! Though the 65-year-old singer isn’t seen nearly as much as she used to be, she still gets out there and does her thing for her legion of fans every so often. However, for most of the year, Patty remains at her home near Atlanta, Georgia, with her family.
Patty Loveless isn’t around as much these days because she’s not interested in keeping a busy touring schedule, but she still performs a couple of times a year! Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Patty Loveless and Porter Wagoner worked together when the prior figure was only 14 years old, and that those looking for Patty nowadays can find her performing annually on the Country Music Cruise? As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
