Patti Page. Photo Getty Images
American pop singer Patti Page, whose 1950 hit "Tennessee
Waltz" topped the charts for months, has died in Southern
California, her manager says. She was 85.
Nicknamed "The Singing' Rage," Page sold more than 100
million albums in her 67-year career, which included 1950s
chart toppers "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window," "I
Went to Your Wedding" and "All My Love (Bolero)."
She died on Tuesday in a nursing home in Encinitas, north of
San Diego, after suffering congestive heart failure, her
manager, Michael Glynn, told Reuters.
"She'd been having some health issues for the past couple of
years," Glynn said. "She was actually doing better yesterday.
I spoke to her and she sounded well."
Page won a Grammy for her 1998 album "Live at Carnegie Hall:
The 50th Anniversary Concert" and will be honored with a
lifetime achievement Grammy in February. She had expected to
attend the ceremony, Glynn said.
Page was born in Oklahoma as Clara Ann Fowler in 1927 and was
known for her light, every-girl voice. Her first big hit was
"With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming," which peaked at No.
11 on the charts in 1950.
Eight years later, Page scored her penultimate top-10 song,
"Left Right Out of Your Heart," as rock 'n' roll was emerging
as the dominant trend in popular music.
Her final big hit was "Hush ... Hush Sweet Charlotte" in
1965. The song served as the theme of a film of the same name
starring Bette Davis.
Her reputation was burnished in recent years when rock group
The White Stripes covered her 1952 song "Conquest" on their
Grammy-winning 2007 album "Icky Thump."
She was married three times, most recently in 1990.
Page is survived by her two children, and several
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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