As fans, we are well aware that it’s high time for Donna to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, yet it seems we must continue to remind the Country Music Association of this. Donna has certainly secured her legacy in country music. Grammy Award-winning artist Donna Fargo has made a unique contribution to the genre. Her uplifting, inspirational songs have brought a new dimension to the traditional themes of heartache and revelry often associated with country music, particularly when she started her career in the early ’70s. Her music stands out, prompting reflection and evoking happiness. Notably, Donna’s emblematic song, “The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA,” was the sole country track on Billboard’s recent compilation of The Top 20 Happy Songs of All Time.

Donna was the first woman in country music history to have back-to-back million-selling singles, with both songs being written by the artist who sang them. She was the first female country music artist to have her own television variety show, The Donna Fargo Show. Besides her platinum-selling back-to-back hits with “Happiest Girl” and “Funny Face,” many hits followed, like…”Superman,” “Little Girl Gone,” “You Were Always There,” “Don’t Be Angry,” “Whatever I Say Means I Love You,” “You Can’t Be a Beacon,” “U.S. of A.,” “Do I Love You,” “It Do Feel Good,” “Somebody Special,” and “Daddy,” to name a few. And who could ever forget the #1 recitation she wrote called “That Was Yesterday.”

Some of her credits include 7 Academy of Country Music Awards, 5 Billboard Awards, 15 Broadcast Music (BMI) writing awards, 2 National Association of Recording Merchandisers Awards for best selling artist and of course a Grammy Award winner. She has also been honored by the Country Music Association, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and the Music Operators of America. She was the first inductee into the North America Country Music Association’s International Hall of Fame. In 2010, Donna was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. As a writer and publisher, her most coveted awards, in addition to the Robert J. Burton Award that she won for “Most Performed Song of the Year 1972,” are her Million-Aires Awards, presented to writers of songs that achieve the blockbuster status of 1 million or more performances.

According to the music historian known as “Mr. Music,” Jerry Osborne
of KKNW recently revealed these extraordinary facts…….
“After reviewing the music annals of over 5,000 vinyl era musicians,
spread over three primary genres – POP, R&B, and C&W – we can
now confirm how extraordinarily uncommon it is for someone to begin
their career with even three consecutive No. 1 hits, much less four. To
be clear, most of these artists did have records out before their first
chart appearances, but they didn’t chart and are irrelevant to this
project.”

“From the introduction of the 45rpm single in early 1945, through
1989…..and after reviewing……..there is just one quintet and one
woman whose chart history began with four straight number ones. First
came the Jackson 5, and what they accomplished with their first 4
smash hits, on the POP and the R&B charts, was NOT equaled by any
other group, or by any of the Jacksons as solo artists.”

“Then Donna Fargo burst on the scene in March 1972, and soon had
four reasons to be the happiest girl in the whole USA:
1972: THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WHOLE U.S.A. (Dot 17409)
1972: FUNNY FACE (Dot 17429)
1973: SUPERMAN (Dot 17444)
1973: YOU WERE ALWAYS THERE (Dot 17460)”
“That’s all! Can you believe it?”

“During the specified 40 years, when music was primarily analog
physical media, with its countless icons and megastars, NONE of whom
matched what ONLY Donna Fargo and the Jackson 5 accomplished!
And no else did so on the POP charts, only C&W and R&B.”

So, for the exemplary country music artist she is…for the consummate writer of songs we love, relate to, and remember… for the ambassador of goodwill representative for country music that she is… for one of the most talented, loved, respected women in country music, who makes her fans feel like they are “Somebody Special.”

Donna is very much relative in country music today. Her company, PrimaDonna Records has released a new CD, ALL BECAUSE OF YOU – a collection of previously unreleased material. It’s a CD that Donna has dedicated to all the people who have helped make her dreams come true to become a singer/songwriter.

~Linda Cottingham,
Coordinator, Donna Fargo International Fan Club