Jeannie Seely, soulful country singer behind hits like ‘Don’t Touch Me,’ dies at 85
By MARIA SHERMAN Associated Press NEW YORK AP Jeannie Seely the soulful country music singer behind such standards like Don t Touch Me has died She was Her publicist Don Murry Grubbs explained she died Friday after succumbing to complications from an intestinal infection Known as Miss Country Soul for her unique vocal style Seely was a trailblazer for women in country music celebrated for her spirited nonconformity and for a string of undeniable hits in the s and s Her second husband Gene Ward died in December In May Seely revealed that she was in recovery after undergoing multiple back surgeries two urgency procedures and spending days in the ICU She also suffered a bout of pneumonia Rehab is pretty tough but each day is looking brighter and last night I saw a light at the end of the tunnel And it was neon so I knew it was mine she stated in a announcement at the time The unsinkable Seely is working her way back FILE Jeannie Seely performs at the Medallion Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville Tenn on Oct Photo by Al Wagner Invision AP File Seely was born in July in Titusville Pennsylvania about two hours north of Pittsburgh and raised in nearby Townville Her love of country music was instant her mother sang and her father played the banjo When she was a child she sang on local radio programs and performed on local television In her early s she moved to Los Angeles to kick-start a career taking a job Liberty and Imperial Records in Hollywood She kept writing and recording Nashville was next She sang on Porter Wagoner s show she got a deal with Monument Records Her greatest hit would arrive soon afterward Don t Touch Me the crossover ballad written by Hank Cochran The song earned Seely her first and only Grammy Award for best country western vocal performance in the female category Cochran and Seely were married in and divorced in Seely broke boundaries in her career at a time when country music expected a kind of subservience from its women performers Seely was a bit of a rebel known for wearing a miniskirt on the Grand Ole Opry stage when it was still taboo And she had a number of country hits in the s and s including three Top hits on what is now known as Billboard s hot country songs chart Don t Touch Me s I ll Love You More Than You Need and s Can I Sleep In Your Arms adapted from the folk song Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister Related Articles Jury orders Tesla to pay more than million in Autopilot crash incident American Eagle defends Sydney Sweeney It was reliably about the jeans Hot dog spill shuts down highway in Pennsylvania commuters wurst nightmare AMA and other diagnostic associations are kicked out of CDC vaccine workgroups Trump administration freezes M in UCLA grants and accuses the school of rights violations In the years since Seely continued to release albums perform and host regularly appearing on country music offerings Her songs are considered classics and have been recorded by everyone from Merle Haggard Ray Price and Connie Smith to Ernest Tubb Grandpa Jones and Little Jimmy Dickens And Seely never stopped working in country music Since she s hosted the weekly Sunday s with Seely on Willie Nelson s Willie s Roadhouse SiriusXM channel That same year she was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame She appeared nearly times at the Grand Ole Opry which she has been a member of since Grubbs commented Saturday s Grand Ole Opry show would be dedicated to Seely She disclosed her latest song in July a cover of Dottie West s Suffertime recorded at the world-renowned RCA Studio B She performed it at the Opry the year before
