Irene Kelley is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

and bluegrass musician. As a songwriter, she has written for

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ...

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as " neotraditional country"), as well as penning man ...

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

, and

the Osborne Brothers The Osborne Brothers, Sonny (October 29, 1937 – October 24, 2021) and Bobby (born December 7, 1931), were an influential and popular bluegrass act during the 1960s and 1970s and until Sonny retired in 2005. They are probably best known for ...

Early life

Kelley is originally from Pennsylvania and in high school sang in a Led Zeppelin cover band. She was asked to leave the group after suggesting the band cover songs from Dolly Parton.

Career

Kelley moved to Nashville, Tennessee in the early 1980s. This was after visiting on her honeymoon in 1983 and discovering the first gathering of the

International Bluegrass Music Association The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...

. Kelley co-wrote the

and Sharon White song "

Love Can't Ever Get Better Than This "Love Can't Ever Get Better Than This" is a song written by Nancy Montgomery and Irene Kelley, and recorded by American country music artists Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White. It was released in April 1987 as the third single from the album ''Love ...

" with Nancy Montgomery. The song peaked at number ten on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart in 1987 and was awarded Duet of the Year at the

Country Music Association Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

that same year. Kelley signed to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wi ...

in the late 1980s.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

Living people American bluegrass musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Country musicians from Pennsylvania {{US-country-musician-stub