Jody Miller

Myrna Joy "Jody" Miller (November 29, 1941 – October 6, 2022) was an American singer, who had commercial success in the genres of country, folk and pop. She was the second female artist to win a country music accolade from the Grammy Awards, which came off the success of her 1965 song "Queen of the House". By blending multiple genres together, Miller's music was considered influential for other music artists.

Miller was born in Arizona, but raised in Blanchard, Oklahoma. With a passion for folk music, she moved to Los Angeles, California following high school to pursue a music career. Her singing attracted the attention of Capitol Records, which signed her to a recording contract in 1963. The label released her debut studio album titled Wednesday's Child Is Full of Woe in 1963. It was Miller's answer song to Roger Miller's "King of the Road" titled "Queen of the House" that became her first commercial success. It became a top 20 pop song and a top five country song. It was followed by the top 25 pop single "Home of the Brave" that discussed social conformity. Miller remained at Capitol recording various material until 1969.

Miller was then signed to the country music label, Epic Records. Under the direction of Billy Sherrill, she remade pop hits into singles for the country market. She had top ten country singles with covers of "He's So Fine" (1971), "Baby I'm Yours" (1971) and original songs like "There's a Party Goin' On" (1972). The Epic label released a series of singles and albums that made the North American country music charts through the end of the 1970s. She was nominated for another Grammy for Epic material and appeared on several popular country television programs during the decade.

Miller left her recording career in the early 1980s. She spent time with her domestic duties and to assist her husband's new business raising quarter horses in Oklahoma. In 1988, she returned with a pair of new studio albums including a project of patriotic music called My Country. It attracted the attention of George H. W. Bush, who had Miller perform at his campaign rallies and other presidential events. In the 1990s, Miller found solace in the religion of Christianity and released several albums of gospel material. This included Real Good Feelin (1992) and Higher (1999). Miller continued her career through the 2020s, before her death from Parkinson's disease in 2022.