Barbara Mandrell

Barbara Mandrell married drummer Ken Dudney on May 28, 1967 and had three children, Kenneth Matthew Dudney, Jaime Nicole Dudney, and Nathaniel Mandrell Dudney.

During the golden period of her career, Barbara and her two kids Matthew and Jaime were involved in a horrific car accident. Since they were not wearing seatbelts, all the three of them suffered from severe injuries. She also suffered a concussion, temporary memory loss, and speech difficulties in addition to fractures. Since then, she has been an advocate for wearing seatbelts.

Barbara Ann Mandrell was born in Houston, Texas, on December 25, 1948 to Mary Ellen, a musician, and Irby Matthew Mandrell, a World War II naval veteran who later served as a Texas police officer. Her father, who was also an accomplished musician, eventually became her manager.

Barbara has two younger sisters, Thelma Louise Mandrell and Ellen Irlene Mandrell; both of them are also accomplished country music singers. She started to learn music at a very early age and even taught herself to play a steel guitar.

She also learned to play other musical instruments, such as accordion, saxophone, and banjo. She toured with Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and George Jones at the age of thirteen.

After her two sisters also displayed interest in music, her family set up a band of their own. Later on, Ken Dudney joined as their drummer; Barbara would eventually marry him.

A few years after forming the ‘Mandrell Family Band’, Dudney was called to join the Navy. Around this time, Barbara Mandrell decided to become a country singer and she moved to Nashville to pursue her career. Her father then began to manage her work. She started with some minor hits under producer Billy Sherrill, who had previously managed top artists like Charlie Rich, Tammy Wynette, and Tanya Tucker.

In 1969, she received six offers from different recording companies and signed with Columbia that year. Her first recording was a cover of Otis Redding’s classic ‘I've Been Loving You Too Long’ which became an instant hit. A year later, she delivered a top 40 hit with ‘Playin' Around With Love’ and teamed up with singer David Houston to deliver several more hit songs.

Her time with Columbia Records was not very fruitful and Billy Sherrill was questioned several times about why he was still working with Barbara despite her failure to capture widespread fame. He finally ended the contract with her in 1975.

After leaving Columbia Records, Barbara Mandrell signed with ABC/Dot and started working with producer Tom Collins. This collaboration marked the beginning of her success. She reached the top 5 with her single ‘Standing Room Only’ and then delivered her chart-topping single ‘Sleeping Single in a Double Bed’ in 1978. This was soon followed by the single ‘(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right,’ that also topped the chart.

During the early 1980s, she had the best time of her career, delivering a series of popular hits starting with ‘Crackers’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’ which reached the country top 10.

Barbara Mandrell’s rising popularity during the late 1970s and early 1980s led her to venture into television as well. The TV program ‘Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters’ premiered on NBC in 1980.

She later featured on several popular TV shows including ‘Empty Nest’, ‘Diagnosis: Murder’, ‘Dr. Quinn’, ‘Medicine Woman’, ‘Touched By An Angel’, ‘The Commish’, and ‘Baywatch’.

After retiring from the recording industry in 1997, she concentrated only on her acting career for two more years and appeared in shows and TV movies like ‘Love Boat: The Next Wave’, ‘The Wrong Girl’, ‘Stolen from the Heart’ and ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’.