NASHVILLE, SEPT. 4 -- Dottie West, 58, who won country music's first Grammy for a female vocalist in 1964 for "Here Comes My Baby," died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center today of injuries received in a car wreck last week on the way to a performance at the Grand Ole Opry.
The singer-songwriter was scheduled to undergo surgery this morning to repair her liver, which was severely damaged in Friday's car accident.
Miss West, whose career spanned more than 25 years, probably was best known for the hit song "Country Sunshine" and duets with Kenny Rogers. Her late 1970s duets with Rogers produced a series of hits, including "Every Time Two Fools Collide" and "What Are We Doin' in Love."
However, Miss West's financial fortunes tumbled and she was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1990 with more than $1 million in debts.
The Internal Revenue Service held an auction of her belongings during the annual Country Music Fan Fair this summer. Miss West attended, signed autographs and bid on some of the items.
Miss West was born on Oct. 11, 1932, the eldest of 10 children in a poor farm family in McMinnville, Tenn. She began writing songs in 1961, starting out with other struggling artists such as Willie Nelson and Roger Miller.
Her image was high-heeled boots, skintight pants, low-cut blouses and western hats. But she once told an interviewer that she initially turned down a duet with Kris Kristofferson on "Help Me Make It Through the Night" because she believed the lyrics were too suggestive. She eventually made the record.
Miss West recalled in a 1989 interview how hard it was for a woman to break into country music in the early 1960s, when men dominated the field.
"It was tough, especially to work on the road. I don't think they felt girl singers sold tickets. {Booking agents} felt people only bought tickets to hear the male singers, although Kitty Wells, Jean Shepard and Patsy Cline had been successful already."
"They put a package {show} together and they had six or seven guys and one girl. They needed a skirt on the show. When I hit that stage, I went for the applause just as hard as the guys did.
"Radio was hard too. You'd hear seven or eight male vocalists and then one girl. They just didn't play them. Now, it's not unusual to see almost all females in the Top 10. I think we've overcome that a lot."
Miss West is credited with discovering country singer Larry Gatlin 20 years ago, when he was a struggling singer-songwriter. He sent her a tape of eight original songs after a chance meeting in Las Vegas, and she recorded "You're the Other Half of Me."
Miss West was married and divorced three times. She had three sons and a daughter, country singer Shelly West, who teamed with David Frizzell for the country hit "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma."
