Patti Page Biography

Fast Facts

• Was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2013
• Won the Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music in 1980
• Her "Tennessee Waltz" in 1950 was considered the first true crossover hit, having spent time on the pop, country, and R&B charts
• Began singing with Benny Goodman after World War II, at the end of the big band era
• Signed with Mercury Records in 1947 and achieved her first hit with 1950's "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming․"
• Started out as an artist at the KTUL radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but became a singer on the program "Meet Patti Page" after a station executive heard her sing
• Quote: "What I like about singing is that, for me, it's a substitute for the psychiatrist's couch․ I can tell it all in song: pathos, gladness, love, joy, unhappiness․ Each song, you're telling a story and acting․"
• Best known as a traditional pop music singer whose hit songs include "Tennessee Waltz," "Old Cape Cod," and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window․"
• Was thought to have been the first singer to use the overdubbing technique on "Confess" in 1948, in which she had to sing her own backup vocals because of a strike
• Had a brief acting career during the 1950s and 1960s, first appearing on the TV series "Music Hall" in 1952