K. T. Oslin
Kay Toinette Oslin (May 15, 1942 – December 21, 2020) was an American country music singer-songwriter. She had several years of major commercial success in the late 1980s after signing a record deal at age 45. Oslin had four number one hits and placed additional singles on the Billboard country chart during that timespan; in addition, she won three Grammy Awards and is an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
K. T. Oslin
December 21, 2020 (aged 78)
- Singer
- songwriter
- actress
- producer
- Vocals
- keyboards
1966–2015
Oslin moved to Alabama after the death of her father, then to Texas. She developed an appreciation for folk music while studying theater in college and later started a folk trio. In 1966, she returned to theater after being cast in the touring production of Hello, Dolly! She then moved to New York City, where she continued acting in Broadway musicals and television commercials. At the same time, she began songwriting as a hobby. After a demo recording was made of her music, Oslin briefly signed to Elektra Records in 1981 without much success. She later signed to RCA Records in 1986 and had her first major hit the following year with "80's Ladies". Her 1987 debut album of the same name would sell over one million copies and produce three additional hits, including the number one single "Do Ya".
Oslin released This Woman (1988) and Love in a Small Town (1990), which reached the top ten of the Billboard charts. The albums spawned hit singles including "Hold Me", "Hey Bobby" and "Come Next Monday". In the early 1990s, she left her recording contract and went into a hiatus following several personal setbacks. In 1996, she returned with the studio album "My Roots Are Showing..." and then in 2001 with Live Close By, Visit Often. Oslin released her final album in 2015 titled Simply.
Early years[edit]
Oslin was born in Crossett, Arkansas, in 1942 to Larry and Kathleen Oslin. When Oslin was 5, her father died from leukemia, leaving her mother widowed.[2] His death resulted in her becoming shy and withdrawn.[3] The family moved to Mobile, Alabama, following her father's death, which is where Oslin spent her childhood. When she was a teenager, her mother moved her family to Houston, Texas, where she would eventually graduate from high school.[2] She became fond of music during her formative years in music inspired from her mother. Oslin's mother had once performed Swing music on local radio and also was offered a job singing in the Les Brown orchestra.[3] She studied drama at Lon Morris College in Texas, where she also drew a deep appreciation for folk music.[2][4]
While in college, Oslin formed a folk trio with David Jones and singer-songwriter Guy Clark.[5] Together, they performed in local cubs, restaurants and other venues in Texas. The trio eventually recorded a song for a 1963 folk compilation titled Look, It's Us! On lead vocals, Oslin performed the tune "Brave Young Soldier".[6] She would later form a folk duo with Frank Davis. In Hollywood, California, the pair—billed as "Frankie and Johnny"—recorded an album, which was not released.[3] Oslin returned to Houston following the stint.[5] In 1966, a touring production of the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly! came to the Houston area in search of "chorus girls" for their ensemble cast. Oslin auditioned, got the part and began touring the same year.[7]
Career[edit]
1966–1986: Broadway, commercials and beginnings in Nashville[edit]
In 1966, Hello, Dolly!'s national tour ended and Oslin moved to New York City to pursue acting. She remained in the city for 20 years where she got several small stage role parts. Oslin appeared as part of the ensemble in the Broadway shows Promises, Promises and West Side Story. She also found work singing commercial jingles.[3] She was often cast in hygiene-product commercials. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Oslin recalled being cast in a hemorrhoid commercial: "Hemorrhoids! Lord! I had a hemorrhoid commercial that had people I knew from the 3d grade calling me up saying, 'Is that you?'"[8] Oslin also developed an interest in songwriting after being given a piano. She taught herself chord patterns and wrote music that went along with it.[3] Her interest in country music also developed after New York started their first country radio station. She found the music to be more sophisticated than what it previously had been and began writing country songs after that.[9] While performing as part of a synthesizer troupe, Oslin was inspired to write her first country song from writing she saw on a bathroom wall. Written on the wall were the words, "I ain't gonna love nobody but Cornell Crawford." Oslin wrote the song with friend Joe Miller and she would later record it in 1990.[10]
Musical styles[edit]
In a 1988 interview, Oslin described her own musical style as stemming from country, southern blues and R&B: "It's a mishmash of stuff. I'm surprised people like it. They should be asking: 'What is this stuff?' I ask that myself all the time."[50] Oslin's musical style is rooted in country, but also incorporates elements of country pop, pop rock and adult contemporary. Examples of pop and "anthemic rock" can be found in her first two RCA albums, as noted by Steve Huey of Allmusic.[5] When reviewing 1988's This Woman, Allmusic's Alex Henderson also drew similar comparisons, calling her sound "far from a honky tonker."[24] Oslin incorporated more dance, traditional pop, Latin and Americana into her musical style after leaving RCA.[2][39]
Her musical style can also be identified with her songwriting. As a musical artist, Oslin wrote most of her material. Many of her compositions centered on characters going through the trials and tribulations of middle age.[2][51] According to Oslin, she developed songwriting inspiration from her friends who were going through martial difficulties. "I learn from watching people and try to put it in terms that music fans would find interesting," she explained in 1988.[50] Bill Friskics-Warren of The New York Times wrote that Oslin "gave voice to the desires and trials of female baby boomers on the cusp of middle age."[2] In Finding Her Voice: The History of Women in Country Music, Oslin "became the beacon of inspiration for every middle-aged woman who felt vibrant yet overlooked."[52] Dennis Hunt of The Los Angeles Times called her writing "penetrating, vivid tales of women in turmoil."[50]
Oslin was largely influenced as a child by traditional pop and country performers, notably Patsy Cline and Kay Starr.[51] As she started performing folk music in the 1960s, Oslin's musical inspiration drew away from country and pop.[5] Yet, once writing her own music, Oslin began finding connections back into country music despite not necessarily looking for it: "I was writing songs--country songs for some weird reason--even though I didn't want to be a songwriter," she commented.[50]
Legacy and honors[edit]
Oslin's success helped give identity to strong, female women in their middle-aged years, according to several publications.[2][13][49][51] Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association remarked on her legacy in 2020: "K.T. Oslin had one of the most soulful voices in country music and was a strong influence for women with her hit '80's Ladies'...She truly had one of the best voices in the history of our format."[53] Lorrie Morgan made a similar comment in 2020: "She was a big inspiration to me and her writing about the strength of women."[54] Her artistry helped influence other female country singer–songwriters that followed such as Brandy Clark[13] and Chely Wright.[55] Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann commented on her musical legacy in 2003: "K. T. was part of a 1980s invasion of female songwriting talent into Nashville. Today, virtually every major song publisher in [Music City] has female staff writers."[36]
Oslin was part of a group of country artists who helped shift its musical sound in the late 1980s. Writers and critics have cited her as an innovator of Nashville's musical shift, along with Steve Earle, k. d. lang and Lyle Lovett.[50] Bill Friskics-Warren of The New York Times commented that Oslin was "among a distinguished circle of thoughtful, independent female songwriting contemporaries that included Pam Tillis, Gretchen Peters and Matraca Berg."[2] Oslin also received several honors for her legacy. In 2014, she was inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame.[56] In 2018, she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.[57]
Personal life and death[edit]
Oslin never married.[58] However, she did have several long-term relationships through middle age. This included a several-year relationship in the 1970s with Alan Rubin, a musician and former member of The Blues Brothers. The couple lived for two years in upstate New York in a rural community. The relationship dissolved after two years and Oslin moved back to New York City. It was Rubin who gave Oslin her first piano following their separation. Oslin would dive into songwriting following her breakup: "That pulling back period is when I started to write."[3] Oslin later dated record producer Steve Buckingham and drummer Owen Hale. However, these relationships eventually ended. "I'm alone, but I like my own company," she told People magazine in 1993.[59]
In the early 1990s, Oslin revealed a battle with menopausal depression. This caused her to lose interest in creating music, including songwriting and performing. According to Oslin, she returned to normalcy after she stopped taking hormones prescribed by her doctor.[60] Oslin's mother died around the same period, which caused further depressive episodes.[61] In 1995, she began suffering from chest pain after spending a summer mowing her lawn. It was discovered after several examinations that she needed quadruple bypass surgery.[5][61] Although making a full recovery, she had a permanent triangular scar that she refused to remove from promotional photographs.[61]
In June 2015, Oslin was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and moved into an assisted-living facility the following year. She died on December 21, 2020, in Nashville a week after being diagnosed with COVID-19 during the pandemic in Tennessee. She was 78 years old.[62][39] She was interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville adjacent to fellow country music star Tammy Wynette.