Bobbie Gentry carved out a profession as one of the crucial profitable nation and crossover feminine artists of her period, however then, she merely vanished with no hint.

Born Roberta Lee Streeter on July 27, 1944, Gentry discovered multiples devices whereas rising up in Mississippi and started performing and honing a sound after she moved to California at age 13.

She began to determine herself with some encouragement from Bob Hope, taking the stage title “Bobbie Gentry” from the 1952 movie Ruby Gentry, which tells the story of a Southern woman who was born into poverty, however who’s decided to make it in excessive society.

In 1967, she scored a worldwide hit with “Ode to Billie Joe,” making her one of many very first feminine artists to jot down her personal music. The track was a success throughout a number of radio codecs, together with nation, and in 1967 Gentry received Grammy Awards for Greatest New Artist and Greatest Feminine Pop Vocal Efficiency. She was additionally named the Academy of Nation Music’s Most Promising Feminine Vocalist.

For the subsequent decade-plus Gentry was a fixture in a number of genres, scoring further nation hits together with “Fancy,” which Reba McEntire would revive in 1991. The track a few younger lady whose mom encourages her to flee their lifetime of poverty by working as a high-class courtesan was particularly difficult in 1969 when she wrote and launched it.

Did You Know These Nation Hits Had been All Covers?

Gentry would go on to get pleasure from additional nation success with a number of duets with Glen Campbell, and he or she additionally hosted a well-liked selection present on community tv, in addition to writing, producing and choreographing a splashy present in Las Vegas.

However she grew to become an increasing number of disenchanted with the music enterprise as time went on, and after the failure of her 1978 single “He Did Me Flawed However He Did It Proper,” she determined to retire from present enterprise, giving her final public performances in two TV appearances in 1981.

Gentry made no public announcement of her retirement; as a substitute, she merely disappeared, and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance have grown into mythological proportions within the many years since.

There have been rumors and stories of sightings, however even some members of the family have stated that they have no idea the best way to contact her. In 2016, a Washington Put up reporter claimed to have tracked Gentry right down to a gated group outdoors of Memphis, the place she had reportedly been dwelling since 2010. Reached by cellphone, she refused to talk with him, and it is unconfirmed whether or not it was actually the singer or not.

Now 82, Gentry has steadfastly refused to grant interviews or verify any particulars about her life immediately since her retirement in 1981.

These Highly effective Nation Girls All Owe a Debt to Bobbie Gentry