Skeeter Davis (December 30, 1931 – September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's "The End of the World". One of the first women to achieve major stardom in the country music field as a solo vocalist, she was an acknowledged influence on Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton and was hailed as an "extraordinary country/pop singer" by The New York Times music critic Robert Palmer.
Davis was born Mary Frances Penick on December 30, 1931, the first of seven children born to farmer William Lee and Sarah Rachel Penick (née Roberts), in Glencoe, Kentucky. Because her grandfather thought she had a lot of energy for a young child, he nicknamed Mary Frances "Skeeter" (slang for mosquito), a name she carried for the rest of her life.
RCA Victor producer Steve Sholes heard their demos and was impressed by their harmonies. In the spring of 1953, Skeeter and Betty Jack met with Sholes at the RCA headquarters in New York City, who offered them a recording contract. After signing the contract, they left New York to begin recording material in Nashville, Tennessee. Between 1954 and 1956, Skeeter Davis and Georgia Jack released a total of nine singles for RCA as the Davis Sisters, which they recorded in New York City and Chicago, and toured the United States as a part of the RCA Caravan of the Stars alongside Minnie Pearl, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Chet Atkins, among others. From 1960 to 1962, Davis had top-10 hits with the songs "(I Can't Help You) I'm Falling Too", "My Last Date (With You)", "Where I Ought to Be", and "Optimistic". "(I Can't Help You) I'm Falling Too" marked Davis's first entrance as a solo artist onto the Billboard pop charts in 1960 and resulted in her being invited to perform on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Davis had the first and only controversy of her career when, during a 1973 Grand Ole Opry performance, she dedicated a gospel song to a group of young church workers whom she noted in her introduction had been arrested for evangelizing at a local mall. The Opry suspended her from membership after receiving complaints from some local policemen. She was reinstated at the Opry more than a year later. Davis returned to the recording studio in 1976 with a brief stint on Mercury Records, which produced two single releases, including her last song to make the national charts, 1976's "I Love Us". In 1978, she recorded the first of several albums for minor record labels which she did on occasion into the 1990s. In August 1988, Davis was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a mastectomy of her right breast to treat the cancer and was in remission for several years before having a recurrence in 1996. In 2001, Davis became incapacitated by her breast cancer, which had metastasized. The following year, she made her final performance at the Grand Ole Opry, performing "The End of the World". She died of breast cancer in a Nashville, Tennessee, hospice on September 19, 2004, aged 72.
Glencoe is a home rule-class city in Gallatin County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 360 as of the 2010 census, up from 251 at the 2000 census. A post office was established in the community in 1848 and named for Glen Coe in Scotland, the site of the Massacre of Glencoe. It was formally incorporated by the state assembly in 1960. Glencoe is located in southeastern Gallatin County in the valley of Eagle Creek. The creek forms part of the southern boundary of the city and also is the Owen County line. U.S. Route 127 passes through the city, leading south 43 miles (69 km) to Frankfort, Kentucky, the state capital.
Skeeter Davis tracks to check out: The End of the World, Silver Threads and Golden Needles, Tell Tommy, No Tears In Heaven
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