Ketty Lester (born Revoyda Frierson; August 16, 1934) is an American singer and actress known for her 1961 hit single " Love Letters", which reached the top 5 of the charts in the U.S. and the UK. She is also known for her role as Hester-Sue Terhune on the American television series ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the Midwestern United States, Americ ...

''. In 2022 she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

Life and career

Ketty Lester was born Revoyda Frierson on August 16, 1934 in

Hope, Arkansas Hope is a city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, Hempstead County in southwestern Arkansas, United States. Hope is the county seat of Hempstead County and the principal city of the Hope Hope micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area, which in ...

. Her parents were farmers who would eventually have a total of 15 children. As a young child, Lester first sang in her church, and later in school choirs. She won a scholarship to study music at San Francisco State College, and in the early 1950s, she began performing under the name "Ketty Lester" in the city's Purple Onion club. She later toured Europe and South America as a singer with

Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...

's orchestra. Lester (as Revoyda Frierson) appeared as a contestant on the December 26, 1957, episode of ''

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radioGroucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

. Lester sang "You Do Something to Me". The chosen category was "

Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...

", a subject she admitted knowing nothing about; George Fenneman fed the correct answers to her, and she and her partner won $1,000. Returning to California, she recorded her first single, "Queen for a Day", for the

Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its ...

label.Ketty Lester discography
SoulfulKindaMusic.net; accessed August 15, 2015. She was introduced by

Dorothy Shay Dorothy Shay (April 11, 1921 – October 22, 1978) was an American popular comedic recording artist in the late 1940s and early 1950s, who later became a character actress. She was known as the "Park Avenue Hillbillie". Early life Shay was bo ...

to record producers and songwriters Ed Cobb and

Lincoln Mayorga Lincoln Mayorga (March 28, 1937 – July 3, 2023) was an American pianist, arranger, conductor and composer who worked in rock and roll, pop, jazz and classical music. Life and career Pop music in the 1950s and 1960s Mayorga was born in Los An ...

of The Four Preps and

The Piltdown Men The Piltdown Men were an American rock and roll instrumental studio group from Hollywood, California, United States, featuring two lead saxophones. They were the brainchild of Ed Cobb and pianist Lincoln Mayorga of the Four Preps, and their ...

, who won her a contract with

Era Records Era Records was an independent American record label located in Hollywood, California. History Era Records was founded by Herb Newman and Lou Bedell in March 1955 as a popular music, pop and rhythm and blues outlet. The label later expanded into ...

in Los Angeles. In 1961 they released her single " Love Letters" b/w " I'm a Fool to Want You". Lester's recording of "Love Letters", which featured

's sparse piano arrangement and

Earl Palmer Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 – September 19, 2008) was an American drummer. Considered one of the inventors of rock and roll, he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Palmer was one of the most prolific studio musicians of al ...

on drums, rose to No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 early in 1962.Profile
Oldies.com; accessed August 15, 2015. The record also reached No. 2 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, selling over 1 million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. In 1991, it was ranked 176th in the RIAA-compiled list of

Songs of the Century The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America's musical an ...

. In 1962, she toured the UK as support act on the

Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, an ...

tour. The follow-up, a version of George and

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...

's " But Not for Me" from the musical ''

Girl Crazy ''Girl Crazy'' is a 1930 musical by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Co-leads Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman made their stage debuts in the first production and Rogers became an overnight sta ...

'', reached No. 41 in the U.S. pop charts and No. 45 in the UK. She released an album, ''Love Letters'', which contained the tracks "You Can't Lie to a Liar" and a cover of

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

's "

This Land Is Your Land "This Land Is Your Land" is a song by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. One of the United States' most famous folk songs, its lyrics were written in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's " God Bless America". Its melody is based on a ...

" (both of which were issued as singles) and was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category. Lester continued to record for Era with little success until 1964, when she signed with

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 ...

. She released several unsuccessful singles for that label, and two albums, ''The Soul of Me'' and ''Where Is Love?'', in a more R&B-oriented style that has been compared to

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (; born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a ...

and Nancy Wilson. Some of her earlier recordings also featured on one side of an album shared with previously released tracks by Betty Everett. Also in 1964, she won a Theatre World Award for her performance in the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

show ''Cabin in the Sky''.''Cabin in the Sky''
, lortel.org; accessed August 15, 2015. She moved to the

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

label, issuing a single and album, ''When A Woman Loves A Man'', an

answer record An answer song, response song or answer record is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...

Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 19 ...

's " When a Man Loves a Woman". However, these releases, and later records for the Pete label, including a 1968 album titled ''Ketty Lester'', met with little commercial success. By the early 1970s, Lester gave up singing commercially and turned to acting. She was reportedly offered the role eventually taken by

Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll ( ; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. Carroll was the recipient of numerous nominations and awards for her stage and screen performances, incl ...

in the 1968–71 TV series '' Julia'', and appeared in a variety of movies, including '' Uptight'' (1968), '' Blacula'' (1972), '' Uptown Saturday Night'' (1974) and '' The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' (1975). Lester established herself as a television actress in the 1970s and 1980s, playing the roles of Helen Grant on ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'' (1975–77) and as Hester-Sue Terhune on ''

'' (1977–83), and she appeared on other television shows and movies, including ''The Night the City Screamed'' (1980). Lester recorded an album of

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

titled ''I Saw Him'' in 1984, and returned to films, appearing in ''

Street Knight ''Street Knight'' is a 1993 American action film directed by Albert Magnoli and starring Jeff Speakman. Plot Jake Barrett ( Jeff Speakman) is a former cop who retired from the LAPD following an incident where he failed to save a young hostage fro ...

'' (1993), and as Aunt Lucy in ''

House Party 3 ''House Party 3'' is a 1994 American comedy film, directed by Eric Meza and written by Takashi Bufford. It stars Kid 'n Play, Bernie Mac, Gilbert Gottfried, TLC, Angela Means, Immature and Michael Colyar, with a special appearance by Tisha Ca ...

'' (1994).Ketty Lester profile
imdb.com; accessed August 15, 2015. In 2020, she released her memoir, ''Ketty Lester: From Arkansas To Grammy Nominated Love Letters to Little House on the Prairie''. Lester attended the 50th Anniversary Reunion for ''

'' in 2024, meeting fans and also delivering a sermon on stage.

Discography

Albums

* ''Love Letters'' – 1962 * '' Betty Everett & Ketty Lester'' – 1964 (one side each) * ''The Soul of Me'' – 1964 * ''Where Is Love?'' – 1965 * ''When a Woman Loves a Man'' – 1966 * ''Ketty Lester'' – 1969 * ''Ketty Lester in Concert'' – 1977 * ''A Collection of Her Best'' – 1982 * ''I Saw Love'' – 1984

Singles

''Sources'':

References

External links

*
Ketty Lester Interview
at NAMM Oral History Library (2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Ketty 1934 births American women singers Living people People from Hope, Arkansas Actresses from Arkansas Era Records artists London Records artists RCA Records artists American television actresses African-American actresses 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers