The daughter of country legend Mel Tillis, Pam Tillis made her own way in the music business, eventually becoming a contemporary country star in the ’90s.

Tillis performed regularly at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe with several other female singer/songwriters and landed a deal with Warner Bros in the early ’80s. She released one album, the pop-oriented Above and Beyond the Doll of Cutey, in 1983 and had her first chart single the following year with “Goodbye Highway.” Several more singles were released through 1987, but none managed to make the Top 50; even so, Tillis was making her name as a songwriter for Tree Publishing, with compositions recorded by Highway 101 and Conway Twitty, among others. In 1989, the same year she acted in a Tennessee production of Jesus Christ Superstar, she landed a new deal with Arista. Tillis released her label debut, Put Yourself in My Place, in 1991, and the lead single, “Don’t Tell Me What to Do,” raced into the Top Five, giving Tillis her long-awaited breakthrough. Of the album’s five total singles, “One of Those Things” and “Maybe It Was Memphis” made the Top Ten (as did the album). 1992′s Homeward Looking Angel was an equally successful follow-up, with “Shake the Sugar Tree” and “Let That Pony Run” both making the Top Five.

Tillis co-produced her third Arista album, 1994′s Sweetheart’s Dance, which proved to be her most successful yet and earned her the ACM’s award for Female Vocalist of the Year. “Spilled Perfume,” “When You Walk in the Room,” and “In Between Dances” all went Top Five, and “Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)” became her first-ever number one hit. Released in late 1995, All of This Love was the first album Tillis produced by herself, and gave her Top Tens in “Deep Down” and “The River and the Highway.” Two new songs from 1997′s Greatest Hits compilation, “All the Good Ones Are Gone” and “Land of the Living,” both went Top Five as well. 1998′s Every Time reflected her recent divorce from songwriter Bob DiPiero and gave her a near-Top Ten hit in “I Said a Prayer.” A reshuffling at Arista delayed the release of Thunder and Roses until 2001, so in the meantime, she performed on Broadway in the Leiber & Stoller tribute production Smokey Joe’s Cafe.

Here is Tillis’ “Maybe It Was Memphis” official music video:

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Lee Ann Womack NASHVILLE, TN - AUGUST 24: Lee Ann Womack performs onstage during Skyville Live Presents a Tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis on August 24, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Skyville) (Rick Diamond)

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