Melba Montgomery, a country music songstress known for her duets, died at the age of 86.
The singer’s most notable duets came alongside George Jones, Gene Pitney and Charlie Louvin during the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Montgomery’s death as confirmed by her daughter Melissa Solomon Barrett, in a Jan. 15 Facebook post. Solomon Barrett said her mother died after a long battle with dementia
“It is with great sadness that we announce our family has lost our mother, Melba Montgomery Solomon,” the post read. “She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, sister to my uncle, sister-in-law to my aunts and aunt to my cousins.”
Montgomery was born in Tennessee but raised mainly in Alabama where she began singing in church as a child in a trio with her two brothers.
Her professional career kicked off after her family trio won a Nashville talent show where Roy Acuff was a judge. Acuff then offered Montgomery a job and she toured with his band from 1958 to 1962.
George Jones discovered her music and presented it to his label, United Artists, in 1963. The pair went on to record several songs like “We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds” which was written by Montgomery and became her first radio hit, reaching no. 3 on the charts.
The duo released popular singles “Let’s Invite Them Over,” “What’s in Our Heart,” “Party Pickin’” and more.
Montgomery’s also achieved success with Charlie Louvin on tracks “Something to Brag About” and “Did You Ever;” and “Being Together” with Gene Pitney.
The singer’s biggest solo hit was 1974′s “No Charge.”
Her career spanned decades as she specialized turned solely to songwriting from the ‘90s onward. She penned songs for acts like Sara Evans, Patty Loveless, Travis Tritt and Terri Clark.
Montgomery married Jack Solomon in 1968. He died in 2014. She is survived by her brother Earl; daughters Jackie, Tara, Diana and Melissa; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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