Suzy Kay Bogguss life and biography

Suzy Kay Bogguss grew up in a farming family that loved music. Her father favored country music, her mother liked big bands and her brothers and sister played the '60s hits. Bogguss gained a degree in metalsmithery at Illinois State University but sang in clubs and coffee houses to earn extra money. She included country songs in her repertoire such as "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" and "Night Rider's Lament." After five years of touring in a van, she secured a residency at a restaurant in Nashville. A 1986 tape made to sell at Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park impressed Capitol Records, which signed her.

She reached the Top 15 in 1989 with "Cross My Broken Heart" and again in 1991 with a duet with Lee Greenwood, "Hopelessly Yours." However, the 1991 album Aces spawned three Top 10 hits -- "Outbound Plane," "Aces" and "Letting Go." Those successes earned her the Horizon Award for most promising artist at the 1992 CMA awards.

In 1993, Bogguss climbed to No. 2 with John Hiatt's "Drive South," followed by the Top 5 hits "Just Like the Weather" and "Hey Cinderella." She and her friend Chet Atkins released the album Simpatico in 1994, and she and husband Doug Crider welcomed a son in 1995.

After parting with Capitol Records, Bogguss resurfaced with one album on the Platinum label in 1999. After an extensive tour with John Berry and Billy Dean, she released the bright Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas in 2001, as well as Swing! in 2003.

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