Pam Tillis
Biography & Discography

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Biography

Thunder and Roses

IN HER OWN WORDS

I won't exactly say I entered the world singing, but Dad--Mel Tillis--said I had the most unusual cry you ever heard. My lullabies were the demo tapes of late-night recording sessions. My cradle was a guitar case they would put me in sometimes for a nap. My parents' friends were the flashy, flamboyant and innocently wild hillbilly crooners, divas and writers of the '50s and '60s--the Garths and Rebas of his generation. Little wonder (pardon the pun) that a kindergarten teacher I ran into years later told me I'd come to her class for four-year-olds and would sing little songs I had made up.
While Dad was away on the road, I started doing my own share of entertaining at school, in church, at Brownies--wherever they would listen to me. I even got up the nerve at eight years old to join Dad on the Grand Ole Opry stage at the old Ryman Auditorium. At the end of some very shaky knees, my little feet started following in some big footsteps.
I studied classical piano for 11 years, and I took up guitar at 11. I learned from osmosis, getting into my "own" kind of music--The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, The Rolling Stones. I began writing at 13. Dad was less than encouraging, since the women of his day weren't treated with the respect they've gained today, but I could tell he was tickled that I had talent.
I started singing in clubs at 15. I did my first writer's night at the world-famous Exit/In. I played clarinet in the marching band in high school, but other than that, I was an undistinguished student--music was the only thing I took seriously. I lasted just two semesters in college, and while I was there I joined my first rock band and performed in a duo, playing every club in town. So, instead of continuing to waste my parents' money, I decided to quit and enroll instead in the Music City School of Hard Knocks.
I pounded the pavement of Music Row for what seemed like forever, a young single mother who didn't want to ride the coattails of a famous dad, working as a back-up vocalist, jingle singer, club performer, songwriter, and publishing company demo singer. I sang jingles for Hardees, Coors, Country Time Lemonade, and Equal, to name a few. I sang in a beer commercial with a tall, skinny kid named Alan Jackson. One of my last sessions was with another struggling up-and-comer, Trisha Yearwood, singing backup on a Paul Overstreet record.
For a long time I struggled in this business, because people said, "You're talented, but who are you?" I went to California to dabble in jazz rock; I had an uneventful first record deal, and took several other detours on my way back to country.
When the prodigal daughter returned to Nashville in 1979, it was to focus on songwriting. Since then I've had songs recorded by Chaka Khan, Martina McBride, Gloria Gaynor, Conway Twitty, Juice Newton, Highway 101, The Forrester Sisters, and others.
I spent a lot of time woodshedding at places like the legendary Bluebird Cafe, trying out songs like "Maybe It Was Memphis" that later became important for me. By the time I left Warner Bros. and Tim DuBois signed me to the brand new Nashville division of Arista Records in 1989, I was more than ready.
There have been people that made it faster and hit it bigger, but I feel I have been blessed with a consistent career. And I've gotten to do it on my own terms. I've done each album a little differently, not wanting to become my own "clichÈ." I've been very hands-on in all the creative aspects of my work eventually even producing one of my albums, All Of This Love. As far as I know, only a handful of women in music have attempted this or have been give the freedom to do so.
They tell me I've sold over four million records, had six #1's, 13 top five's, and 17 top ten's. I've done this all the while maintaining a pretty darn heavy public appearance schedule. I've done "Leno," "Letterman," "Rosie," "Conan," VH-1, CNN, E! and everything else from "RuPaul" to "Politically Incorrect" to "Good Morning America" to the "White House Memorial Day Celebration." I've appeared on "L.A. Law" and more recently had the pleasure of acting in "Diagnosis Murder" with Dick Van Dyke and "Promised Land" ‚ (My interest in acting started in 1989 when I starred in Tennessee Repertory's "Jesus Christ Superstar" as Mary Magdalene.)
I've toured with George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill and as part of the Country Fruit of the Loom Tour in 1996 with Alabama and Patty Loveless. I did the first all-female "pre-Lilith" tour with Lorrie Morgan and Carlene Carter. I've performed with the St. Louis and Atlanta Symphonies. (Not bad for a girl who's battled stage fright all her life!) Over a decade of hard work paid off in a big way for me when I was honored with CMA's 1994 "Female Vocalist of the Year;" a feeling I'll never forgot and an honor I continue to strive to live up to.
A turning point in my career, a landmark of sorts, was my Greatest Hits record. With it I closed the "first chapter of my career" and began the "second." One of the two singles from that album, "All The Good Ones Are Gone," helped me gain a new momentum by being nominated for two Grammy's, the CMA Single, Song, Female Vocalist and Video honors, as well as the ACM "Song of the Year."
I put together my new album during an intensely busy period. I did "Smoky Joe's Cafe," a Broadway production built around the classic rock songs of Lieber & Stoller, I visited Australia twice, I toured here and worked in Branson with my dad. I also became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. I grew up in this business, and the Opry means something special to me. To be a part of an institution like that is something I really treasure.
If I had to categorize myself at all these days, it would be as a survivor, and I think it's because I'm a chameleon. I've got my writing and recording, there's the family me, and then there's this whole other person, this entertainer, out on the road. I sing jazz, R&B, and country. I've done Broadway and Branson, and I'm a member of the Opry. I can't be pigeonholed. I'm lucky that at a certain point I was able to establish an identity.
It's especially gratifying knowing I have this many fulfilling things I can do this many years into it, especially since the '90s saw an awful lot of people come and go. Through it all, more than anything, I'm proud of the fact that I'm still standing.

Fact File:

Current Album:
Thunder & Roses
Produced by Billy Joe Walker, Jr., Kenny Greenberg, Dann Huff and Paul Worley

Total Album Sales: 5 million
1994 CMA Vocalist of The Year
Six No. 1 and eight Top 5 hits
3 Grammy nominations
11 CMA nominations
7 ACM nominations

Discography