Kelly Diane Willis (born October 2, 1968) is 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 ...

singer-songwriter. Her music has been described as being new traditionalist and

alternative country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

Early life

Born in

Lawton, Oklahoma Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, Oklahoma, Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Located in western Oklahoma, approximately southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton metropolitan ar ...

, Willis was the youngest of three children. Her father was a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. Her mother had a strong interest in music in addition to singing and acting in amateur musicals. Willis began singing when she was nine as a way to comfort herself after her parents divorced. After the divorce, Willis and her siblings lived with her father and moved to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, and then northern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

accommodating her father's military career. Her father worked at the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

while she was in high school. She went to middle school in North Carolina and attended a high school in

Annandale, Virginia Annandale () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia.Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's "Teddy Bear." With the demo in hand, Willis impressed her then boyfriend who she had begun dating, drummer Mas Palermo, and joined his rockabilly band, the Vibrato Brothers, at 16. The band took her on as the lead vocalist and soon rechristened the band Kelly Willis & the Fireballs. After Willis's high school graduation, the band decided to move to

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

to participate in the vibrant Austin music scene. After a few months in Austin, however, the band broke up. Willis and Palermo, married in 1989, formed a new band called Radio Ranch. In Austin, Willis attracted the notice of several influential Texas singer-songwriters including

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She often appeared on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'', starting in 1985 during season 10. In 1990, Griffith appeared on th ...

and

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...

. Griffith introduced MCA producer Tony Brown to Willis. Brown was very impressed with Willis' vocal abilities and signed her to MCA in 1989. MCA embarked on a big marketing campaign to tout Willis after she recorded her first album on the label, the 1990 album '' Well Travelled Love''. MCA ensured that she was interviewed by several national magazines including unusual publications like ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' and '' Mademoiselle''. Her music was in the 1991

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

-produced ''

Thelma and Louise Thelma is a female given name. It was popularized by Victorian writer Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel '' Thelma''. Although the character was supposed to be Norwegian, it is not a traditional Scandinavian n ...

'', singing "Little Honey" and "I Don't Want to Love You (But I Do)." She also had a small part in

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and Jacob Singer in '' Jacob's Ladder'' (1990), as well as winning an Academy ...

’ 1992 film ''

Bob Roberts ''Bob Roberts'' is a 1992 satirical mockumentary film written, directed by, and starring Tim Robbins. It depicts the rise of Robert "Bob" Roberts Jr., a right-wing politician who is a candidate for an upcoming United States Senate election. Rober ...

''. Willis appears as the young woman standing in a shallow stream in

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album ''Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerable s ...

's video of " A Thousand Miles from Nowhere," as well as a member of

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 ...

's " pickup band" in his

Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away "Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Vince Gill that reached the top of the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Country Songs, Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country ...

video. She was nominated for Top New Female Vocalist of the year at the 1993 ACM Awards along with

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

and

Lari White Lari Michele White Cannon (, ; May 13, 1965 – January 23, 2018) was an American country musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her debut in 1988 after winning ''You Can Be a Star'', a televised talent competition o ...

(Hill won). Despite publicity and positive reviews from most reviewers, ''Well Travelled Love'' and Willis' later albums for MCA ('' Bang Bang'' in 1991 and '' Kelly Willis'' in 1993) sold modestly and received very little radio play. During that time, Willis felt uncomfortable with the way she was marketed by MCA. In 1994, MCA released Willis from her contract. In 1995, Willis collaborated with

Jay Farrar Jay Stuart Farrar (born December 26, 1966) is an American songwriter and musician based in St. Louis. A member of two critically acclaimed music groups, Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, he began his solo music career in 2001. Beyond his talent as ...

on the song "Rex's Blues", which appeared on the AIDS benefit album

Red Hot + Bothered Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

produced by the

Red Hot Organization ''Red Hot Organization'' (RHO) is a non-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization with goals to promote diversity through equal access to healthcare through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors ...

. Willis continued to pursue her music career after leaving MCA. In 1996, she recorded an EP for

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

entitled '' Fading Fast''. However, her relationship with A&M was short-lived; after working with two major labels, Willis decided to record her next album on her own. Her efforts resulted in the 1999 album '' What I Deserve'', which Willis sold to

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

after finishing the album. ''What I Deserve'' received quite a bit of press after the album's release. It was commonly seen as Willis's response to her history with MCA and was uniformly praised by critics, becoming a hit for Willis. She was also a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards giving support to independent artists' careers. In 2003, Willis and

Bruce Robison Bruce Ben Robison (born June 11, 1966) is an American Texas country music singer-songwriter. Bruce and his brother, fellow singer-songwriter Charlie Robison, grew up in Bandera, Texas, near San Antonio. His self-titled debut album was released ...

, her husband and fellow country musician, released the record ''Happy Holidays'', a cover album of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

songs. Beginning in 2005, Willis and Robison appeared in television and radio commercials for the anti-allergy product

Claritin Loratadine, sold under the brand name Claritin among others, is a medication used to treat allergies. This includes allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and hives. It is also available in drug combinations such as loratadine/pseudoephedrine, in whic ...

. In the fall of 2007, Willis released '' Translated From Love''. It was recorded at Robison's studio, Premium Recording Services, in Austin and produced by Chuck Prophet, formerly of the band

Green On Red Green on Red was an American rock band, formed in the Tucson, Arizona punk scene, but based for most of its career in Los Angeles, California, where it was loosely associated with the Paisley Underground. Earlier records have the wide-screen p ...

. The album is co-written by Willis, Prophet, and notable songwriter

Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night", the Bangles' hit " If She Knew What She Wants", and the Ignatius Jones and Allison Moyet ...

. It includes a cover version of

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

's "Success." In early 2008, Willis announced that she would take an indefinite hiatus from live performances due to family obligations. She announced on her website, "Being a traveling musician with four kids may not make an extremely compelling reality TV show but it is kicking my butt. I plan to continue making records... I may do the occasional holiday show/song swap/benefit here and there... Happy trails... until we meet again." Her winter / spring 2008 scheduled dates continued as planned until the final show May 2, 2008. Willis began to tour outside of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

again. First, she headlined the Northern Rockies Folk Festival in

Hailey, Idaho Hailey is a city in and the county seat of Blaine County, in the Wood River Valley of the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. The population was 7,960 at the 2010 census, up from 6,200 in 2000.Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (HSB), originally Strictly Bluegrass, is an annual free and non-commercial music festival held the first weekend of October in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. Conceived and subsidized by San Francisco ven ...

at Speedway Meadow in

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond District, San Francisco, Richmond and Sunset District, San Francisco, Sunset districts on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. It is the Lis ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, on October 2, 2010. In 2011, she toured the United States with her husband Bruce Robison, performing new songs in preparation for an album with Robison. The album, '' Cheater's Game'', was released on February 12, 2013. Willis and Robison began to tour supporting the release on February 13, 2013 in New York City. The couple followed up the success of their first album together 14 months later releasing ''Our Year''. In 2018, Willis released '' Back Being Blue'', her first solo album in more than a decade. The album was produced by Robison. A year later a third collaborative album with Robison, '' Beautiful Lie'' came out.

Personal life

Willis married high school boyfriend Mas Palermo in 1989, but they divorced in 1991. In 1992, Willis met Austin singer-songwriter

. After dating for several years, Willis and Robison married in 1996. After a decade focused on her music career, Willis turned to starting a family. She went through

in vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating the ovulatory process, then removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from ...

treatments and gave birth to son Deral Otis in January 2001. Her experience with raising a child led to a different sort of album than the earlier ''What I Deserve''. In 2002, Willis released '' Easy''. The album expresses Willis's contentment with her new life through songs with a relaxed, mellow vibe. After the album's release, Willis became pregnant again and gave birth to twins Abigail Esme and Benjamin James on March 24, 2003 On January 10, 2006, Kelly welcomed her fourth child Joseph Willis Robison. On January 21, 2022, Willis and Robison announced their upcoming divorce via their

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

pages.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Notes: *^A "I Don't Want to Love You (But I Do)" did not chart on Hot Country Songs, but peaked at No. 3 on Hot Country Radio Breakouts. *^B "River of Love" did not chart on Hot Country Songs, but reached No. 10 on Hot Country Radio Breakouts.

Music videos

Appears on

* 1991: Various Artists – "

Thelma & Louise ''Thelma & Louise'' is a 1991 American crime drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. The film stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as Louise and Thelma, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unforese ...

" (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), vocals on track 6, "Little Honey" * 1994: Monte Warden – "Monte Warden" (Watermelon Records), vocals on track 5, "The Only One" * 1995:

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer renowned for his distinctively smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor and a genre-crossing career that spans R&B, soul, gospel, jazz, country, and pop. He gained national prominence with hi ...

– '' The Tattooed Heart'' (A&M Records), vocals on track 11, "For the Good Times" * 1998: Various Artists – '' Real: The Tom T. Hall Project'' (

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

) -- Track 2, " That's How I Got to Memphis" * 2005: Various Artists – "A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver (Live)" (Compadre), vocals on track 3, "Ride Me Down Easy" * 2012:

Martin Zellar Martin Lee Zellar (born June 14, 1963) is a Minnesota-based musician and songwriter. Martin Zellar is the brother of writer Brad Zellar. Early career Zellar grew up in Austin, Minnesota. While still in high school, Zellar formed his first b ...

– "Roosters Crow" (Label: Owen Lee Recordings), vocals on track 1, "Took the Poison" and track 3, "Running on Pure Fear" * 2012:

Mark Collie George Mark Collie (born January 18, 1956) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, actor, record producer, and fundraiser for Type 1 diabetes study. He has won awards and acclaim for his music, his acting, and his philanthrop ...

& His Reckless Companions – "Alive at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary" (Ranch Records), vocals on tracks 4, 5, 9

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Kelly 1968 births American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Living people Singers from Austin, Texas People from Lawton, Oklahoma Rykodisc artists MCA Records artists A&M Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma Country musicians from Texas Country musicians from Oklahoma 21st-century American women Thirty Tigers artists