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Jody Miller, 'Queen of the House' Singer, Dead at 80
Jody Miller, a Grammy award winning county-pop music pioneer with ties to the Quarter Horse racing industry, died on October 6 in Blanchard, Oklahoma.

© Courtesy Jody Miller Music
Jody Miller, 'Queen of the House' Singer, Dead at 80

BLANCHARD, OK–OCTOBER 9, 2022–Jody Miller, a Grammy award winning county-pop music pioneer with ties to the Quarter Horse racing industry, died on October 6 in Blanchard, Oklahoma, due to complications related to Parkinson's Disease. She was 80.

Jody was married to the late Monty Brooks, a longtime Oklahoma-based Quarter Horse trainer and the brother to American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame member and eight-time All American Futurity (G1)-winning trainer Jack Brooks.

She first signed to Capitol Records in 1962 for her legendary debut folk album "Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe" originally released in 1963. It was recorded at the Capitol Studios in Los Angeles with "The Wrecking Crew." She landed her first hit single, “He Walks Like a Man,” on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.

Jody is best known for her 1965 smash “Queen of the House,” which made her a country star overnight when the single crossed over from the pop to country charts, cementing her status as a pioneering cross-over artist. This unexpectedly opened the door including fellow artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Anne Murray and Olivia Newton-John. In 1966, she won the Grammy award for the song, becoming the second woman to win for “Best Country Performance—Female.” Jody's controversial teen protest anthem "Home of the Brave" (1965) became her best-selling U.S. single, despite being banned from radio.

According to Jody’s longtime representative Jennifer McMullen, "Jody Miller’s talent cannot be overstated. She had this innate, God-given ability to interpret and to communicate with the most beautiful tones and inflection. She made it look and sound so easy that it sometimes takes a moment to realize the greatness of what you are hearing. But she was just as authentic and exceptional in her own life as she was on stage and on record.”

Jody continued to record for Capitol Records through the 60's, releasing scores of singles such as the richly expressive Hot Country charter and fan favorite “Long Black Limousine,” while making multiple appearances on teen shows such as "Shindig" and "American Bandstand." In November of last year, Capitol/UMe released the remaining albums of her 60's catalog on digital in conjunction with her 80th birthday,including Miller's classic albums "Queen of The House," "Home of the Brave," "The Nashville Sound of Jody Miller and "Best of Jody Miller".

Jody was also included in "Stronger Together: The Power of Women in Country Music," a GRAMMY Museum curated exhibit, showcasing some of the most influential women in Country music history. The exhibit was on display at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, featuring video of Miller's televised performance of her 1966 Grammy Award winning hit "Queen of the House". The exhibit moved to the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles and will be included in the upcoming touring exhibit.

In the '70s, Miller began recording for Epic Records in Nashville, working with Billy Sherrill as one of his premiere Countrypolitan artists, notching several hits, including the Top 10 singles “Baby I’m Yours,” There’s a Party Goin’ On,” “Darling, You Can Always Come Back Home,” "Good News" and the Grammy-nominated cross-over hit “He’s So Fine.” With her beauty and charisma, Miller became a frequent guest on shows such as "Hee Haw" and "Pop! Goes the Country."

In the early '80s, with 31 Billboard charting hits to her credit, Jody retired from touring to spend time at home with her husband Monty Brooks and her daughter Robin, who for many years served as the on-air handicapper and racing analyst at Remington Park in Oklahoma City. Jody helped manage her husband’s thriving Quarter Horse breeding and training business at their farm in Blanchard, Oklahoma.

In the early '90s, Jody rededicated her life to Christ and began a Gospel Music Ministry, sharing her Testimony through story and song, recording half a dozen gospel albums, culminating in her induction into the International Country Music Hall of Fame.

With all of her accolades, Jody was deeply devoted to her family. Following the death of her husband of 52 years, she began performing with her daughter Robin Brooks Sullivan, and her grandchildren Montana and Layla Sullivan, as Jody Miller and Three Generations. The group released a single in 2018, "Where My Picture Hangs On the Wall." In 2021, Jody attended the groundbreaking for a Blanchard Public School Building named for her, The Jody Miller Performing Arts Center, an honor which she called “better than a Grammy!”

Dealing with the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease in the past few years, Jody made the decision to enter the studio one last time in 2020 for an upcoming project, "Wayfaring Stranger" on Heart of Texas of Texas Records. As label president Tracy Pitcox explained, “Jody lived her life, just as she conducted her career, with the utmost class and dignity.”

Jody is survived by her sisters Carol Cooper and Vivian Cole; daughter Robin Brooks Sullivan and her husband Shaun Sullivan; and grandson Montana Sullivan and granddaughter Layla Sullivan. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jody’s name to Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Blanchard,
Oklahoma.

Arrangements are currently pending. Please check her website for more details.