Crystal Gayle Biography

Crystal Gayle was born Brenda Gail Webb in 1951 in Paintsville, Kentucky. She grew up in Indiana, and developed a love of music early on in her life, thanks to her older sister, Loretta Lynn, and her successful music career. As a teenager, she toured with her sister and learned to sing and play the guitar. Shortly after graduating high school, Crystal signed her first record deal, and her debut single, “I’ve Cried (The Blue Right Out of My Eyes)” became her first charting hit.

Crystal Gayle, her debut album, was released in 1974 and spawned the hits “Wrong Road Again” and “I’ll Get Over You,” the latter of which reached into the mainstream chart in addition to the country charts. The hits “You’ll Never Miss A Real Good Thing (Till He Says Goodbye)” and “I’ll Do It All Over Again” followed, but her biggest hit was just around the corner. Upon its release, “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” became Gayle’s iconic career-making achievement, landing on both the country and mainstream charts and giving Crystal her first Grammy Award, for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The single’s corresponding album, We Must Believe in Magic, eventually went platinum, an unusual achievement for a female country artist, and Crystal Gayle rocketed to superstar status.  

Since that time, Crystal Gayle has given audiences dozens of albums spanning her four-decade long career: When I Dream (1978), We Should Be Together (1979), Miss the Mississippi (1979), These Days (1980), Hollywood Tennessee (1981), True Love (1982), Cage the Songbird (1983), Straight to the Heart (1986), Three Good Reasons (1992), He is Beautiful (1996), In My Arms (2000), and All My Tomorrows (2000.) The albums spawned the hits: “Ready for the Times to Get Better,” “Talking in Your Sleep,” “Why Have You Left the One You Left Me For,” “Half the Way,” “It’s Like We Never Said Goodbye,” “If You Ever Change Your Mind,” “Too Many Lovers,” “Til I Gain Control Again,” “Baby, What About You,” “The Sound of Goodbye,” and “Cry.” Crystal Gayle also scored a mainstream hit with “You And I,” her duet alongside Eddie Rabbitt, in 1982. In the new millennium, Crystal Gayle released In My Arms (2000) and All My Tomorrows (2003), and then Crystal Gayle in Concert (2005) and Live! An Evening with Crystal Gayle (2007.)

Crystal Gayle continues to perform and record, and still ranks on the CMT list of 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. For her achievements, she has been recognized with awards for: Top Female Vocalist (Academy of Country Music Awards); Favorite Female Country Artist (American Music Awards); Female Vocalist of the Year (Country Music Association Awards); and of course a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance (for “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.") Most recently, Crystal Gale became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2017. She is currently working on another studio album, which would be her first in thirteen years. The album, with a tentative title of Am I That Easy to Forget, does not yet have a release date.