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I have a long list of classic female country artists who are unforgettable but while preparing for this article, I kept coming back to two women who stood far above the rest: Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline. That's my short list and to do these two women justice in this article, I think I should keep in that way.

Kitty Wells

Contemporary opinion gives the moniker, "Queen of Country Music" to Loretta Lynn but the first and only Queen' is Muriel Deason, better known as the great Kitty Wells. Kitty, one of the only country music stars born and raised in Nashville, came into this world on August 30, 1919. She is now 88 years old and although she officially retired in 2001, Kitty is making public appearances to this day.

Her long-lasting contributions to country music began in the early 1950's with her hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels". Kitty appeared on the country music scene in her teens but it wasn't until 1952, with the release of Honky Tonk Angels' that she caught the attention of the public.

I doubt when Kitty recorded 'Honky Tonk Angels' that she understood just how much this ground-breaking and controversial song would change country music history. Not only did it catapult her to the No. 1 spot on the Country charts and place her in the record books as the first woman to accomplish that feat but, more importantly, it was the first pro-feminist recording in Nashville history. The song's unique premise was an "answer song" to "The Wild Side Of Life", by Hank Thompson. Thompson sang in his song that the woman he loved left him for a man she met in a roadhouse and was, therefore, a "honky tonk angel" made by god. Kitty responded in her song by saying that it wasn't god who made honky tonk angels; it was the men who had led them astray.

No matter what accomplishments Wells achieved during the rest of her career, nothing would top the contribution of that one song. Although it was banned from being played on the Grand Ole Opry, Kitty had paved the way for Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette to sing their songs about how men had 'done them wrong'. Kitty grew up in an era where producers thought, "women don't sell records" but she crashed through that barrier when 'Honky Tonk Angels' spent 6 weeks at No. 1 on the charts. Because of Kitty, the country music industry realized that women can sell records and the female artists, given the freedom to sing their hearts out, could express the feelings of all women.

Patsy Cline

If it's true when we

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