Posted on June 14, 2022.

For decades, country music fans have traveled to Nashville for the once-a-year event that brings their favorite artists together for several days of performances, meet and greets, and more. It was once called Fan Fair, but today it’s the CMA Fest.

In 1980, a small group decided there should be a Sunday morning Christian component that would bring fans and artists to wrap things up by coming together on that final day to celebrate their faith. It’s changed locations a couple of times and these days it’s actually held in the afternoon, but Sunday Mornin’ Country still happens every Sunday at the end of CMA Fest.

It’s changed locations a couple of times and these days it’s actually held in the afternoon, but Sunday Mornin’ Country still happens every Sunday at the end of CMA Fest.

Artists who’ve performed in the past include Bill Monroe, Tammy Wynette, Roy Clark, Porter Waggoner, Freddy Hart, and so many more.

The iconic Brenda Lee, who became one of the best-selling female artists of the 1960s with hits like “Sweet Nothin’s,” “I’m Sorry,” “Fool No. 1,” and the Christmas classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” has long since retired from performing. But her strong faith, and the fellowship with so many longtime friends, continues to bring her back to Sunday Mornin’ Country.

“Oh goodness sakes, I’ve been coming for years and years,” she says. “When they call me, I say yeah, I’ll be there.”

Lee’s career which spans more than 65 years and has given her fans spanning several generations. The Atlanta, Georgia-native began singing as a child, joined the Red Foley show at 10, had a Nashville record deal at the age of 12, and went on to become one of the best-selling female singers of the 1960s.

She moved in music circles with Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and so many other major artists, and today is a member of both the Country Music and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

When asked about her place in music history, and the many people she’s worked with, Lee simply says she’s grateful.

“I think about all of them. I think about my precious Owen Bradley. I think about the musicians, the A team that was on everything I ever recorded. I think about the songwriters who shared their knowledge and their life’s work and took a chance with me in the hopes (here she laughs), that I would do it justice.”

(Owen Bradley, along with his brother Harold was the first to put a studio on Nashville’s Music Row and guided the careers of so many along with Lee, and fellow female artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn.)

Lee credits Bradley with allowing her to cross genres with her music.

“He let me do everything,” she recalls. There was nothing, not one song he didn’t play for me whether it was rock and roll, country, pop, ballads, up tempos, whatever. He played them all. And then he’d say, ‘Okay, what do you think you can sing?’ It wasn’t, ‘I think you should do this or this is good for you.’ It was, ‘Okay Brenda, what do you like? How do you want to do it?’”

She says it still means so much that Bradley, and the A-team musicians she worked with on Music Row, were so supportive and trusting of someone so young.

As host of Sunday Mornin’ Country, Lee is warm and gracious, greeting old friends, hugging fellow artists, and smiling at everyone. She puts anyone, who might otherwise be intimidated by her music legend status, quickly at ease.

Each year the show, held at the Grand Ole Opry House, features a long list of groups and artists, a full band, and a full choir (this year with about 80 members). Everyone involved performs for free, pays their own travel costs if coming from out of town, and covers their own lodging. Mark Thomas performs with his group, Music City Quartet, and leads the choir.

“The Country Chorale (choir) brings the heart and soul to the Opry house and makes it a worship house for the day,” he says. “They come from all over the country, California, Kansas, Illinois, Georgia, they come from everywhere. We rehearse two nights before, then have a run-through with the artists, then on Sunday we’re here. It’s a lot of fun.”

In hosting this year’s anniversary special, Lee introduced a wide range of artists and performers who rotated on and off the stage for more than two-and-a half hours.

Many sang familiar songs or hymns, while others sang songs of praise they’d written themselves.

Lee was warm and sincere, but also funny and entertaining. She made jokes about her age, “I’m not Little Miss Dynamite anymore,” and had fun the couple of times she lost her place in her stack of papers.

When T. Graham Brown hugged her at the podium before taking the stage to sing his classic “Wine into Water,” he said he thought she’d grown, but realized it was just her hair.

Lee quickly replied, “The higher the hair, the closer to God.”

Everyone laughed.

She also joked with rising artist, Adam Warner, when she couldn’t find his name or the information to introduce him.

“You’re just so cute and I’m so old, but it feels so good,” she said.

Laughing, Warner went on to sing a song he’d written called “Someone God Can Use.”

There were emotional moments, too, as Lee spontaneously left the podium to join Dianne Sherrill on stage to sing along on the chorus of “Have A Little Talk With Jesus,” or when she later gave John Berry a big hug after his performance.

Before singing, Berry touched on his battle with throat cancer. After he was diagnosed, he went through 35 grueling rounds of radiation, 8 chemotherapy treatments, and surgery to remove both tonsils.

Now, three years later, he says, “God is good. He’s been faithful to me through so many trials.”

Berry said he recently had a very positive check-up where his doctor told him that while he hasn’t yet made it to the important 5-year mark yet, “You don’t have to worry about this, this is all good.”

With Steve Dorff accompanying him, Berry then sang a beautiful rendition of “Great is They Faithfulness.”

Performances continued one after another, ranging from Sunday Mornin’ Country regulars like the Tennessee River Boys, the Fox Brothers, and founding member Joe Babcock’s Cowboy Joe and the Babcocks, and others.

Newcomers included Alex Miller who appeared on “American Idol,” who performed “I’m Gonna Sing,” Virginia artist, Makenzie Phipps who sang “The Old Rugged Cross” and Todd Tilghman, Season 18 winner of “The Voice,” who did a song he wrote in tribute to a mother’s prayers called “Blood, Sweat, and Her Tears.”

Charlie McCoy played “The Lord’s Prayer” on harmonica, as the names of artists who performed previously, and have since passed away, scrolled by on a screen behind him.

As the show wrapped up, the artists and choir came together to sing “I’ll Fly Away,” led by Joanne Cash Yates. The crowd joined in and sang along.

There’s something special about the blending of so many voices coming together for one song and sharing one special moment.

As the show ended, Lee headed for the front of the stage to shake hands with members of the audience. It’s refreshing to see someone who reached such great heights of success, remain so grateful to those who helped her during her career. And that includes producers, musicians, or songwriters, others behind the scenes, and the fans who’ve loved her music and supported her for so many years.

“It takes more than just the artist,” she says. “It’s a whole plethora of people you may never meet, but they’re a part of your life.”

Original Post: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamwindsor/2022/06/14/the-legendary-brenda-lee-helps-nashvilles-sunday-mornin-country-celebrate-40-years/?sh=1da8b5d3142c