Singer/songwriter Wanda Jean Jackson has enjoyed a long and successful music career which encompasses such diverse genres as country, gospel, and rockabilly. Wanda was born on October 20, 1937 in Maud, Oklahoma. Her father Tom was a former country singer who had to quit music because of the Great Depression. Jackson got her first guitar from her dad while living in California from 1941 to 1947. At age 12 Wanda and her family moved back to Oklahoma City. She won a local talent show contest in 1952 and got her own radio show on KLPR, which she hosted while attending high school. Jackson recorded several songs with the country group The Brazos Valley Boys in the 1950's; her duet "You Can't Have My Love" with band leader Billy Gray was a #8 country hit in 1954. Wanda met 'Elvis Presley' on Flores' album "Rockabilly Filly." She has been twice nominated for Grammy Awards and was awarded the Oklahoma Native Daughter Award. Moreover, Wanda has been inducted into the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, and the German Country Music Hall of Fame. Now in her 70's, Wanda Jackson still continues to tour and perform all over the world.
Was a popular headliner in Las Vegas, Nevada from the mid-1950s until the 1970s.
Inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence on April 4, 2009.
