Jessi Colter

Vocation

Family

American country music artist best known for her collaboration with her husband, country singer and songwriter Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 country-pop crossover hit "I'm Not Lisa". Jessi Colter was one of the few female artists to emerge from the mid-1970s "outlaw country" movement. After meeting Jennings, Colter pursued a career in country music, releasing her first studio LP in 1970, A Country Star Is Born. Five years later, Colter signed with Capitol Records and released her first solo single, "I'm Not Lisa", which topped the country charts and reached the top five on the pop charts. In 1976 she was featured on the collaboration LP Wanted: The Outlaws, which became an RIAA-certified Platinum album. Her first marriage was to guitarist Duane Eddy in 1961, and still using her real name of Miriam Johnson, she issued two singles that were issued on the Jamie label. The first, "Lonesome Road", received scattered airplay in several US markets, though not enough to make any national charts. After a second single failed to even get regional airplay, Johnson did not record again for nearly a decade. She pursued a career as a songwriter under her married name, Mirriam Eddy. Her songs were recorded by Don Gibson, Nancy Sinatra, and Dottie West. She continued to tour with Eddy until divorcing in 1968. The Eddys had a daughter, Jennifer. In 1969 Colter met and married Waylon Jennings. At this time, Colter adopted her stage name, Jessi Colter, in honour of her great-grandfather, Jesse Colter. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, with Jennings. Colter and Jennings had one son, Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings (born 19 May 1979). In the early 1980s, Colter and Jennings nearly divorced due to his addiction to drugs and other forms of substance abuse. However, they remained together until Jennings's death in 2002. On 11 April 2017, Colter released a tell-all memoir, An Outlaw and a Lady: A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith That Brought Me Home. Link to Wikipedia biography