Education: Attended West Virginia University.

Mattea also belongs to several AIDS-related charitable organizations.

by Anne Janette Johnson

Kathy Mattea's Career

Signed with Mercury Records, released debut album Kathy Mattea, 1983; had first number one single, "Love at the Five and Dime," 1986; subsequent hits include "Walk the Way the Wind Blows," "Untold Stories," "Goin', Gone," and "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses"; released several albums during the 1990s including Time Passes By, Lonesome Standard Time, Walking Away a Winner, the Grammy Award-winning Good News, and Love Travels; released The Innocent Years, 2000; has made numerous live appearances in the United States and abroad; advocate for the fight against AIDS.

Kathy Mattea's Awards

Country Music Association, Single of the Year for "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses," 1988; Academy of Country Music, Single of the Year for "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses," 1988; Academy of Country Music, Song of the Year for "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses," 1988; Academy of Country Music, Top Female Vocalist, 1989; Country Music Association, Female Vocalist of the Year, 1989-90; Academy of Country Music, Song of the Year for "Where've You Been," 1989; Country Music Association, Song of the Year for "Where've You Been," 1989; Grammy Awards, Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Where've You Been," 1990, and Best Southern Gospel, Country Gospel, or Bluegrass Gospel Album for Good News, 1993.

Famous Works

• Selected discography
• Street Talk , Mercury, 1983.
• From the Heart , Mercury, 1985.
• Walk the Way the Wind Blows , Mercury, 1986.
• Untasted Honey , Mercury, 1987.
• Willow in the Wind , Mercury, 1989.
• A Collection of Hits , Mercury, 1990.
• Time Passes By , Mercury, 1991.
• Lonesome Standard Time , Mercury, 1992.
• Walking Away a Winner , Mercury, 1992.
• Good News , Mercury, 1993.
• Good News Radio Special , Mercury, 1994.
• (Contributor) Maverick (soundtrack), Atlantic, 1994.
• (Contributor) Red Hot + Country , Mercury, 1994.
• Love Travels , Mercury, 1997.
• The Innocent Years , MCA, 2000.

Recent Updates

September 30, 2003: Mattea's album, Joy for Christmas Day, was released.

Mattea was born and raised in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, the daughter not of a coal miner but of a white-collar supervisor. I decided to try to share some of the human experience of growing through adulthood in the songs. Mattea's other hits during this time included "Walk the Way the Wind Blows," "Untold Stories," "Goin', Gone," and "Battle Hymn of Love."

Mattea does not rest on formula work, no matter how tempting it might be.

"It was very emotional.... Mattea [makes music] that is anything but obvious, even as it celebrates themes that are so common."

Mattea released several albums during the 1990s, including the platinum-selling A Collection of Hits, Time Passes By, Walking Away a Winner (which generated a number-three hit of the same name), the Grammy Award-winning Christmas album Good News, and Love Travels.

The singer's subject matter is also strong, ranging as it does from genial love ballads to deeper, more challenging efforts. Its middle-of-the-road sound failed to find an audience; Mattea's future at Mercury might have been brief had she not been invited to open for country star George Strait in many of his road concerts.

Two events saved Mattea's career: her touring with Strait and her decision to reach for a more traditional folk style.

I've gotten to the point where I really want to do it the way I want to do it--and if that doesn't work, I'll just go find something else to do."

The late 1980s saw Mattea blossom into a major country entertainer with a string of top-ten hits and best-selling albums. Her first public acknowledgment of her loss and expression of support for the fight against AIDS occurred in 1991 during an appearance on the Country Music Association Awards.

"Where've You Been"--a stark departure from standard country fare--is a plaintive work about a loving husband and wife placed on different floors in a nursing home after 60 happy years of marriage. In retrospect, she calls the years between 1983 and 1986 "a subtle gift." She told the News and Sun-Sentinel that on the road with Strait, "I was able to learn things without the magnifying glass of the public eye focused on me during my formative years--and learning how to be an artist, not just a singer, takes time." Mattea did take her time and eventually returned to music that properly showcased her sonorous voice.

Other people were coming out of nowhere and being talked about, and I was kind of anonymous."

Even after she signed with Mercury Records in 1983 and released her debut album Street Talk, Mattea still struggled. She has had little formal vocal training, perfecting her craft instead by singing a variety of folk, bluegrass, blues, and country.

but I feel it's important to always remember to take a risk if it makes sense."

Like country singers K. T. Oslin and Anne Murray, Mattea is a performer whose appeal is grounded in a down-to-earth, friendly approach that has little to do with appearances. I mean, I think of myself as a human being first, and I'm singing to other human beings."

News and Sun-Sentinel contributor Holly Gleason allowed that Mattea's voice "has grown stronger from extensive touring." Mattea's is one of the finer vocal instruments in modern country music, especially as she applies it with restraint and never seems to compete with her back-up arrangements.

When in 1986 she finally managed to place a song at the top of the country charts--"Love at the Five and Dime"--Mattea was already a seasoned performer. It's just not part of my schtick. When it was finished I just felt really good about it. Mattea was in no way an overnight success, however. She won Single of the Year awards from the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM) for "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" in 1988 and walked off with the Female Vocalist of the Year award in 1989 from both the CMA and the ACM; she won the award again from the CMA in 1990.