June Webb (born September 22, 1934) is an American former

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-songwriter notable for the song "Looking Glass". She rose to fame in the early 1950s, and had a 11-year career in the country music industry. Webb particularly experimented in the

honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, honky tonk, or tonk) is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ...

side of country music, but varied to

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

. She played the violin and the guitar, and was a talented instrumentalist. She was an inspiration for

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 "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

, who later used Webb's main line of her song in her song " Before I'm Over You."

Childhood

Webb was born on September 22, 1934, in L'Anse, a village in the northern County of Baraga in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. She had one sister, Shirley, and one brother, Ford. Her family were working-class, and musically inclined. The family moved to the Brownsville suburb of Miami, Florida in early 1937. She took private dancing and singing lessons, and her father taught her how to play various instruments. Webb attended Earlington Heights Elementary School.

Career

Growing up in the music industry, she begin performing from the age of 6 with her sister Shirley as the "Harmony Sweethearts". They did very well, becoming popular in hotels and various small venues throughout Miami. The sisters used to sing

Carter Family The Carter Family was an American folk music group that recorded and performed between 1927 and 1956. Regarded as one of the most important music acts of the early 20th century, they had a profound influence on the development of bluegrass, c ...

songs, and

Patsy Montana Rubye Rose Blevins (October 30, 1908 – May 3, 1996), known professionally as Patsy Montana, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. Montana was the first female country performer to have a million-selling single with her sig ...

's million seller smash hit. In early 1950, her family decided to go all in show business but as a family band. The family group toured the country, and performed with several

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

acts like

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

. The family were scheduled to perform with Hank the night he died (January 1, 1953). The family 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 ...

in 1951, due to their big success. Webb was the lead singer, despite being the youngest of three children. Webb's

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

voice became noticeable, and she went solo performing on her own in stints at the

. In 1954, she signed 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 ...

on a $200 a week contract, but this ended in 1956 after having no success. She signed with the

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

show as the group's female singer in 1957. One magazine article called her "The Prettiest Smokey Mountain Boy", and ''Billboard'' magazine gave her its "Most Promising Female Artist" award as voted on by country & western disc jockeys. Webb auditioned for

Hickory Records Hickory Records is an American record label founded in 1954 by Acuff-Rose Music, which operated the label up to 1979. Sony Music Publishing (then Sony/ATV) revived the label in 2007. Originally based in Nashville, and functioning as an independ ...

in 1959 after Roy Acuff urged them to sign her, and she found herself signing with them a month later. However, before the first recording session she fell off a horse and suffered a broken/fractured leg. This delayed the recording session for three months, as she had a two-month hospital stay and one month of recuperation at home. She recorded for Hickory from 1959 until 1964, with three successful songs and five singles released. Her appearances with Acuff's show took her all over the world, including Europe and the Caribbean. She led a very private life. She became a member of the

in April 1961, performing regularly on their radio show.

Retirement and private life

Webb performed her biggest hit, "Looking Glass", at the Opry on July 30, 1964, when she announced that she was leaving the Roy Acuff show. To the disappointment of the public, she left in September 1964, and was on the verge of retirement, according to a Nashville newspaper. She left

in November 1964, but despite plenty of papers saying Webb had retired, she continued to perform within the US for another three months. She officially retired in February 1965, though occasionally performed in smaller venues through the mid-1960s. She continued to live a private life in South Nashville.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, June 1934 births Living people American women country singers American country singer-songwriters People from L'Anse, Michigan Singer-songwriters from Michigan Country musicians from Michigan 21st-century American women