Lorrie Morgan is back in the studio with award-winning producer Richard Landis, working on a new album. It is sure to be yet another collection showcasing the rainbow of emotions, from darkest heartache to bright, shiny humor, that is the hallmark of Morgan’s range.
"Where I am in my life right now, I'm not afraid to express what I feel," she says. “I'm not afraid to express my views on anything, especially on being a woman and my experiences in this business and in life.”
Morgan is known for her lustrous vocal phrasing and the down-to-earth believability of her torchy performances. On records such as “A Picture of Me Without You" and "I Guess You Had to Be There," the ache is palpable. She is feisty and sassy on "Watch Me," "What Part of No" "Five Minutes" and "I Didn't Know My Own Strength." She has kicked up her stiletto heels in fun on her hits "Except for Monday" and "Go Away." On her epic "Something in Red" she is an honest, struggling everywoman.
Recently in Nashville, Morgan commanded a stage shared by the iconic Judy Collins, in a concert performance honoring the 30th anniversary of LA-based record label, Cleopatra Records. She continues to match any of her earlier efforts, with an emotional range and a stage presence that is as vibrant as ever.
She is a peerless song interpreter, drawing from a deep personal well that spans enormous tenderness to cheeky hutzpah. Whether covering a classic or sharing one of her own songs, Morgan is truly a song stylist in the grandest tradition.
"I have always been a songwriter and I do love to write," she comments. "But I’m only comfortable co-writing with a few people, and I don’t like appointment writing at all. Plus, I'm not one of those people who says, 'If I didn't write it, I'm not going to record it.' If somebody else's song is better, I'm going to record it and not my own."
Lorrie Morgan has been around great songs all her life. She is a Nashville native who is the daughter of Country Music Hall of Fame member George Morgan. She made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry stage at age 13, singing "Paper Roses." Her father died suddenly of a heart attack at age 51. She was l6 at the time and just beginning her musical career. Lorrie Morgan began making her own records shortly thereafter and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry at just 24 years old.
Morgan married fellow country singer Keith Whitley in 1986. She was signed to RCA Records in 1987, and her onslaught of hits began the following year. Whitley's tragic death of an alcohol overdose in 1989 left her a widowed working mother. Their duet "Til a Tear Becomes a Rose" earned her a 1990 CMA award.
Her first three albums, Leave the Light On (1989), Something in Red (1991) and Watch Me (1992), all earned Platinum Record awards. Her Greatest Hits collection (1999) is also Platinum. War Paint (1994), Greater Need (1996) and Shakin' Things Up (1997) are all Gold Record winners.
She sang "The Sad Cafe" on Common Threads: Songs of the Eagles, which was named the CMA Album of the Year in 1994. Country fans voted Lorrie Morgan their TNN/Music City News Female Vocalist of the Year in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Lorrie Morgan maintained her recording pace in the new millennium, releasing collections in 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2010. In 2012 and 2013, Morgan starred and sparkled in the lavish Enchanted Christmas productions at the opulent Opryland Resort in Nashville. She took that show on the road in 2014.