Anita Kerr, a key voice in the Nashville Sound, dies at 94

By KRISTIN M. HALL
AP Entertainment Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Anita Kerr, a singer and composer whose vocal group provided the lush backdrop to the sound of country music in the ‘50s and ’60s, has died. She was 94. Her daughter told The New York Times that her mother died in Geneva on Monday. Kerr worked alongside hit producers Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley to create the Nashville Sound that often relied on orchestras, strings and choral singers. Some of the hit songs featuring Kerr’s singers include Roy Orbison’s “Only the Lonely,” Bobby Bare’s “Detroit City,” and the holiday favorite “Rockin’ Round the Christmas Tree,” by Brenda Lee. The Anita Kerr Singers won three Grammys.