What color are Crystal Gayle eyes?

Country music songbird Crystal Gayle is best known for her long floor-length hair and smooth voice. The most popular song of her career is without a doubt the classic hit “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.”

Enjoy a vintage live performance of the tune below!

Crystal Gayle Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue

Check out these additional Crystal Gayle facts!

1. She was named after a burger joint

Crystal Gayle’s real name is Brenda Gail Webb. There was already a singer named Brenda Lee and Decca Records didn’t want to have confusion with two Brendas. After seeing a sign for Krystal hamburgers, her famous sister Loretta Lynn suggested the name Crystal.

2. She has Native American heritage.

The country artist was awarded The Cherokee Medal of Honor in Tahlequah, by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Her mother Clara Marie Ramey was of Scots-Irish and Cherokee ancestry. On October 20, 2001, Crystal joined the Native American Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

3. She has worked as a voice over actress.

Crystal Gayle was the voice of ‘Emily’ in the 1993 cartoon “The Country Mouse & the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale” opposite acclaimed actor John Lithgow.

4. She was the only child in her family to be born in a hospital. 

If you’ve paid attention to the lyrics of Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” you know that Crystal Gayle and her numerous siblings grew up impoverished in the Appalachian Mountains. Crystal was the only child to be born in a hospital. Her parents eventually moved the family to Indiana to live in a retired miner’s colony.

5. “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” was originally written for another recording artist. 

Composer Richard Leigh originally intended to have Dame Shirley Bassey record the song. Crystal convinced him to let her sing it and it’s certianly one of the best bargains she’s ever made.

The brilliant and varied career of country singer Crystal Gayle can be summed up in three truths. She's anotherCoal Miner's Daughter from one of country music's most influential families, her ankle-length hair may be as iconic as Willie Nelson's headbands and her 1977 hit single "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" sounds as fresh now as Linda Ronstadt's color-coded hit from the same year, "Blue Bayou."

Of course, there's more to Gayle's story than being born into the same Butcher Hollow household as older sister Loretta Lynn. She's not just someone who's fashion-forward in both Nashville and Hollywood, either. And like Johnny Paycheck and others with a career-defining song, she's responsible for numerous country hits, including a "You and I," a memorable duet with Eddie Rabbitt. Yet it's worth exploring the story behind "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" and its crossover success.

Country Goes Pop (And Jazz)

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The jazz-tinged ballad in question reached Gayle's already blue eyes for approval after producer Allen Reynolds claimed the song from its writer, Richard Leigh. Initially, Leigh envisioned it as a Shirley Bassey song. It remains the best-known country song written by Leigh, the songwriter behind Reba McEntire's "The Greatest Man I Never Knew," Steve Wariner's "Life's Highway," Gayle's "Wrong Road Again" and a handful of other memorable singles.

"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" became the first single off Gayle's 1977 album We Must Believe in Magic.

Gayle's God-given talent as a singer and her matchless grace get most of the credit for the song's success, and for good reason. Yet it's another familiar name to country music fans whose work helped hook in listeners across the globe. Famed session musician Hargus "Pig" Robbins came up with the acoustic piano riff that's key in keeping this pop hit from becoming a jazz standard, hidden away from Gayle's growing throngs of supporters.

An International Crossover Hit

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Beyond conquering Billboard's country charts in the United States, the song was an international crossover success. It sat atop the Cashbox Top 100 for two weeks, topped multiple RPM charts in Canada and reached the second spot on the Billboard Hot 100--behind Debbie Boone's inescapable "You Light Up My Life." Momentum continued at the 1978 Grammy Awards when Gayle claimed the only Best Female Country Vocal Performance statue of her decorated career.

It's hard to imagine many other country singers getting this much out of a would-be Shirley Bassey song. No wonder most cover versions, including cuts by French singer Mireille Mathieu and Young Marble Giants collaborator Alison Statton, came from outside of Nashville. Although Carrie Underwood can definitely belt it out with the best of them, as heard in 2016 when Underwood invited Gayle to join the Grand Ole Opry. Others in country music to cover Gayle's best-known single include another big dreamer from the hills, Dolly Parton.

What is the meaning of don't it make my brown eyes blue?

“Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” captures the stages of heartbreak – from denial to bargaining, to the dawning feeling of losing something good in your life. Tell me no secrets, tell me some lies. Give me no reasons, give me alibies. Tell me you love me and don't let me cry. Say anything but don't say goodbye.

What album is don't it make my brown eyes blue?

We Must Believe in Magic

What ethnicity is Crystal Gayle?

Gayle and her siblings claim Irish and Cherokee descent, although she is not enrolled with any Native tribe. Gayle's father was a coal miner who developed black lung disease. In search of better medical treatment, the family moved to Wabash, Indiana, when Gayle was four years old.

Why did Crystal Gayle change her name?

Her music career was given a big boost by her older sister, country superstar Loretta Lynn. Loretta thought that Crystal's real name of Brenda Gail Webb was not quite "classy" enough, and after noticing a sign for the Krystal restaurant chain, she changed the "K" to a "C" and her sister became Crystal Gayle.