Brenda Lee - I’m Sorry

Brenda Lee was born Brenda Mae Tarpley on Dec. 11, 1944, in Atlanta. She was the second daughter of Rubin and Grace Tarpley. The youngster showed distinctive vocal talent at age 3, won her first singing contest when she was 5 and was performing regularly on an Atlanta radio station when she was 7. It was at about that time that a TV producer in Augusta, Ga., changed her name to Brenda Lee. In 1953, when she was 9, her father died in a construction accident. Country singer Red Foley heard Lee when she was around 10 years old and subsequently invited her to appear with him on the popular TV show, Ozark Jubilee. Her popularity and high visibility soon won her guest shots on such popular network programs as The Ed Sullivan Show and The Perry Como Show. In 1956, Lee signed with Decca Records, where she later united with the legendary producer Owen Bradley, who would oversee most of her hits. She charted her first pop single, “One Step at a Time,“ in 1957, but it made it only to No. 43. (The