Betty Cody (born Rita Francis Coté; August 17, 1921 – July 1, 2014) was a Canadian-born

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer. Her notable singles include the 1952

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

releases "Tom Tom Yodel" and " I Found Out More Than You Ever Knew", and "Please Throw Away The Glass" released by RCA in 1954. In 1979, Cody was inducted into the

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

Country Music Hall Of Fame.

Early years

She was born Rita Francis Coté to Alphonse and Albina Coté in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, the sixth of 11 children. When still a child she moved to

Auburn, Maine Auburn is a city in south-central Maine, within the United States. Settled in the foothills of the Western Lakes and Mountains region of the state, The city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The popul ...

Career

In 1940, Betty Cody married Harold Breau, a musician who performed as Hal Lone Pine. The couple started performing together and she adopted the stage name of Betty Cody. The couple moved to

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

in 1948 and Cody signed a contract with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

in the early 1950s. In 1952 she had her hit in the U.S. country charts with "Tom Tom Yodel". Her 1953 hit single "I Found Out More Than You Ever Knew" reached No. 10 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country chart. In 1957, the Breau family moved to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, where they performed on CTV Television. Slim Andrews, the chair on the board of directors of the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame called her "the number one country singer to ever go out of the state of Maine."

Personal life

After splitting from her husband she gave up her career and worked in a shoe shop in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ) is the List of municipalities in Maine, second most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with the city's population at 37,121 as of the 2020 United States census. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, Augusta, the sta ...

to care for her three younger sons. Betty and Harold eventually divorced. Her eldest son, Lenny Breau, who had lived with his father, later moved to California. Lenny became a noted jazz guitarist. In 1984, Lenny Breau's dead body was found in a swimming pool. The coroner ruled that he was strangled and his death was ruled a murder. The case was never solved. Another son, Denny Breau, is also a musician. Cody married, secondly, to George Binette, by which marriage she became stepmother to four children. Binette died in 2002.

Death

Betty Cody died from undisclosed illness on July 1, 2014, at age 92 in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cody, Betty 1921 births 2014 deaths American country singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American women singers Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian country singer-songwriters Country musicians from Maine People from Auburn, Maine People from Lewiston, Maine Musicians from Sherbrooke Musicians from Winnipeg Songwriters from Maine Songwriters from Quebec Writers from Sherbrooke 20th-century American women singers Singers from Manitoba 20th-century Canadian women singers Canadian women singer-songwriters