Sweethearts of the Rodeo was an American

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 ...

duo composed of sisters Janis Oliver (guitar, vocals) and Kristine Arnold (née Oliver) (vocals). The duo recorded for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

between 1986 and 1991, releasing four albums and twelve singles for the label. During the 1990s, they recorded two albums for Sugar Hill Records. The duo reached Top Ten on the

Hot Country Songs 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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart seven times in the late 1980s, with their highest-charting singles being the No. 4 hits "Midnight Girl/Sunset Town" and "Chains of Gold", both in 1987.

Background

Janis Oliver was born , and her sister Kristine Arnold was born , in the South Bay region of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. They grew up in

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Coastal California, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north ...

, sang in elementary school, and performed

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

as the Oliver Sisters as teenagers. The duo became Sweethearts of the Rodeo, taking the name from

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...

' album ''

Sweetheart of the Rodeo ''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'' is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Byrds, released in August 1968 by Columbia Records. Recorded with the addition of country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, it became the first album widely recognized ...

''. After their discovery by

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

, they secured slots as opening acts and backing vocalists for other artists. In 1977, the Sweethearts opened a

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, beach c ...

, show for

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...

, a group including 19-year-old

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

. In 1980, Janis married Gill, by then a member of

Pure Prairie League Pure Prairie League is an American country rock band which featured in its original lineup singer and guitarist Craig Fuller, drummer Tom McGrail and steel guitarist John David Call, all from Waverly in southern Ohio. Fuller started the band i ...

, Kristine married Leonard Arnold of the band Blue Steel. In 1983, the Gills moved to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

followed by the Arnolds, with the sisters singing together again.

1986–1992: Columbia Records

In 1985, Sweethearts of the Rodeo won the Wrangler Country Showdown talent contest, then signed with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Sweethearts of the Rodeo's first single, "Hey Doll Baby", debuted in April 1986, followed by the release their self-titled debut album. Then came the duo's first Top Ten hit at No. 7, "Since I Found You". The song was written by

Radney Foster Radney Muckleroy Foster (born July 20, 1959) is an American country music singer-songwriter, musician and music producer. Initially a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, Foster made his recording debut as part of the Foster & Lloyd duo, recordi ...

and Bill Lloyd, and its success helped

Foster & Lloyd Foster & Lloyd was an American country music duo consisting of singer-songwriters Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd. After pairing up in 1986, the duo recorded three albums for RCA Records, charting nine singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts. Th ...

secure a recording contract. Four more singles from the album followed, including the No. 4 hits "Midnight Girl/Sunset Town" and "Chains of Gold", their highest-charting singles. A second album, '' One Time, One Night'' furnished three more Top Ten hits: "Satisfy You", "Blue to the Bone", and a cover of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' "

I Feel Fine "I Feel Fine" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in November 1964 as the A-side of their eighth single. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The recording includes one o ...

", but their next single, "If I Never See Midnight Again", peaked at No. 39. Two more albums for Columbia were next, 1990's ''

Buffalo Zone ''Buffalo Zone'' is the third studio album by American country music duo Sweethearts of the Rodeo, released in 1990 via Columbia Records. The album's cover was an obvious homage to The Byrds' 1968 album ''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'', from which t ...

'' and 1992's ''Sisters'', but neither had major hits. Columbia dropped the duo in 1992.

1993–present

Sweethearts of the Rodeo continued to tour in the 1990s, releasing two albums of bluegrass music on the Sugar Hill label: '' Rodeo Waltz'' in 1993 and '' Beautiful Lies'' in 1996. Janis and Kristine owned a clothing store in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

, called "Gill & Arnold" in the late 1990s, then closed it. Janis and Vince Gill were divorced in 1997. She married Roy Cummins in 2000 and they divorced in 2010.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{Authority control Country music groups from California American country music duos Columbia Records artists Sibling musical duos Musicians from Manhattan Beach, California Musical groups established in 1985 1985 establishments in California Sugar Hill Records artists Musical duos from California Female musical duos