Sylvia Jane Kirby (December 9, 1956), known mononymously as Sylvia, 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 ...

and

country pop Country pop (also known as urban cowboy or even urban country) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends g ...

singer and songwriter. Her biggest hit (a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...

chart topper), was her single "

Nobody Nobody most often refers to: * Nobody, an indefinite pronoun Nobody may also refer to: Fictional characters * Nobody (''Kingdom Hearts''), a race of beings in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game series *Nobody, a character in the Jim Jarmusch fi ...

" in 1982. It reached number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart, number 9 on the ''Cashbox'' Top 100, and number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Country Singles chart. The song earned her a

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

certification and a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for

Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West Dottie West (born Dorothy Marie Marsh; October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country singer and songwriter. She also had s ...

. Her other country chart hits include " Drifter" (number one in 1981), " Fallin' in Love", "Tumbleweed" and "Snapshot". She was named Female Vocalist of the Year by the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

for 1982. She is also credited with making the first "concept" music video clip to air on

Country Music Television Country Music Television, often abbreviated to CMT, is an American pay TV network that launched on March 5, 1983. It is currently owned by Paramount Global through the MTV Entertainment Group unit of its networks division. CMT was the first na ...

(CMT), with "The Matador".

Early life

Sylvia was born in

Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. Its population was 60,093 according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimate. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana metropolitan area, Kokomo metropol ...

, United States. She began performing at age 3 when she was asked to sing at a small local church. Sylvia eventually relocated to

Nashville, Tennessee 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 ...

, on December 26, 1975. Wishing to become a recording artist, Sylvia took a job as a secretary for producer and publisher

Tom Collins The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. This "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically served in a Collins glass over ice with a cherry garnish. A non-alcoholic "Collins mix" drink mi ...

, who produced records for both

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful mus ...

and

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...

Career

After auditioning for

Dave & Sugar Dave & Sugar was a pop-styled American country music trio which enjoyed its peak success in the mid- to late-1970s. The trio consisted of lead singer Dave Rowland and initially on backing vocals, Vicki Hackeman and Jackie Frantz. Over time, the ...

, Sylvia was signed as a solo artist by

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 ...

in 1979. Her first RCA single was called "You Don't Miss a Thing". The song reached the Country Top 40. In 1980 she released another single, "It Don't Hurt to Dream". The record rose a little higher, to number 35. That same year, she finally made it to the Top 10 with "Tumbleweed". In 1981, her song "Drifter" hit number 1 on the country charts, and two other songs, "The Matador" and "Heart on the Mend" landed in the Top 10. "The Matador" was country music's first conceptual music video to air on CMT. '' Drifter'' was her 1981 RCA debut studio album, containing the hits "Tumbleweed" and "Heart On The Mend".

Chart hits in the 1980s

In 1982, from her '' Just Sylvia'' studio album, Sylvia released the single "Nobody", which reached number 1 on the country music chart, hit number 15 on ''Billboard''s Hot 100 chart, and sold more than a million copies. The song was also an

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

hit, making the Top 5. "Nobody" became Sylvia's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

. "Nobody" and the album ''Just Sylvia'' were certified gold in the United States and Canada. "Nobody" was the 1982 BMI Song of the Year, awarded for receiving more radio airplay than any other single that year. In 1982, Sylvia was the Academy of Country Music's "Female Vocalist of the Year" and a Grammy nominee for "Best Female Vocalist". In 1983, Sylvia's album ''Snapshot'' was released; its title song climbed to number 5 on the country chart and became her second-highest selling single. She had two other songs in the Top 20 that year, "I Never Quite Got Back" and "The Boy Gets Around". In 1985, Sylvia released ''One Step Closer'', produced by

Brent Maher Brent Maher is a record producer, producer, audio engineer, engineer, and songwriter currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. He has produced and engineered six Grammy Award-winning records and received awards from the Country Music Associati ...

, who brought a more guitar-driven feel. Three singles were released: " Fallin' in Love", " Cry Just a Little Bit", and " I Love You By Heart." This was followed up by Sylvia's last top 40 country hit, "Nothin' Ventured, Nothin' Gained", from the unreleased album ''Knockin Around''. The shelving of this album marked the end of Sylvia's tenure with RCA Records. Sylvia recorded for RCA until the end of 1987, delivering 11 Top Ten songs, and selling more than four million records. RCA put together a ''Greatest Hits'' compilation and issued a new single titled "Straight from My Heart", written with Jimmy Fortune of

the Statler Brothers The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group from Staunton, Virginia. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening a ...

. With little promotion from RCA, the single charted in the low 60s.

Later career

When her contract with RCA ended, Sylvia took a break from touring and recording to focus on developing as a songwriter. In 1988 and 1989, she guest-hosted TNN's ''

Crook and Chase ''Crook & Chase'' is an American television talk show hosted by Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase, focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on country music. The pair had first worked together on the weekly syndicated program "This Week In Cou ...

'' show and her own ''Holiday Gourmet'' cooking special. Sylvia's first independent album, ''The Real Story'', was released in 1996 on her own label, Red Pony Records. In a May 1998 ''People'' magazine review, Ralph Novak wrote, "Sylvia always sang with more intensity and resonance than most country singers... and she can still sing a story song better than almost anyone around." In 2002, she followed with ''Where in the World'', a set that marked the culmination of an 11-year musical collaboration with John Mock. Songwriter Craig Bickhardt contributed the song "Crazy Nightingale". Bickhardt had previously performed with Sylvia from 1984, and wrote the title cut to ''One Step Closer''. Also in 2002, Sylvia released, ''A Cradle in Bethlehem'', her first Christmas album. In 2016, the album, ''It's All in the Family'', was released on Red Pony Records. In 2018, Sylvia released, ''Second Bloom: The Hits Re-Imagined'', an album of some of her hits she re-recorded with a more acoustic yet fully produced approach. In 2022, Sylvia's newest album, ''Nature Child—A Dreamer's Journey'', was released on February 22, 2022. Still residing in the Nashville area, Sylvia is now a life coach for up & coming individuals working in the music industry – singers, songwriters, musicians, recording artists, and music industry professionals. She also coaches people who work at non-profit agencies. https://mycountry955.com/whatever-happened-to-sylvia/

Discography

Awards and honors

References

External links

Sylvia page
at CMT.com
Sylvia's personal page

Sylvia's music website
*

Bibliography

* Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra & Stephen Thomas Erlewine (ed.) (2003)
All Music Guide to Country, 2nd ed., p. 756
', . * Richard Carlin (1995)
The Big Book of Country Music, A Biographical Encyclopedia, p. 450
', . * The Editors of

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 ...

(1994)
The Comprehensive Country Music Encyclopedia, p. 380
', . * Michael Erlewine with Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra & Stephen Thomas Erlewine (ed.) (1997)
All Music Guide to Country, 1st ed., p. 458
', . * Brian Mansfield & Gary Graff (ed.) (1997)
MusicHound Country: The Essential Album Guide, p. 427-8
', . * Barry McCloud (1995)
Definitive Country: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Country Music and Its Performers, p. 791-2
', . * Tad Richards & Melvin B. Shestack (1993)
The New Country Music Encyclopedia, p. 219
', . * Kurt Wolff (2000)
Country Music: The Rough Guide, p. 454-5
', . {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvia 1956 births Living people American women country singers American country singer-songwriters People from Kokomo, Indiana RCA Records Nashville artists Country musicians from Indiana 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Indiana