Linda Martell facts for kids

Linda Martell (born Thelma Bynem on June 4, 1941) is an American singer. She made history as the first black female artist to become successful in country music. She was also the first black woman to perform at the famous Grand Ole Opry. Linda Martell helped open doors for other black country music artists.

Linda grew up in South Carolina. She loved listening to country, gospel, and R&B music. As a teenager, she formed a singing group with her family called Linda Martell and the Anglos. In the 1960s, they released a few R&B songs. But the group didn't become very famous and later broke up.

Linda Martell then started singing by herself. She was discovered singing country music at an air force base. This led her to meet music producer Shelby Singleton. He signed her to his record label in Nashville in 1969. That same year, she released her country song "Color Him Father". It became a top 25 hit on the Billboard charts. Her first album, Color Me Country, came out in 1970.

Martell appeared on several country music TV shows. She also released two more songs with Plantation Records. During this time, she performed at the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. She would go on to perform there 12 times in total. After some disagreements with her manager and producer, Martell left her record deal. She stopped working in the country music industry in 1974. For many years, she lived in different states and kept singing. She also worked in schools to earn a living. She moved back to South Carolina in the 1990s.

In 2021, the CMT Music Awards gave Linda Martell the Equal Play Award. In 2024, she was featured on two songs on Beyoncé's album Cowboy Carter. One of these songs, "Spaghettii", earned Martell her first Grammy Awards nomination.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Thelma Bynem was born on June 4, 1941, in Leesville, South Carolina. She was one of five children. Her father was a sharecropper, which means he farmed land owned by someone else and paid rent with a share of his crops. Her mother worked long hours at a chicken slaughterhouse. To avoid farm work, Linda learned to cook for her family when she was just seven years old.

Her father was also a preacher, which inspired her early love for music. She sang gospel music in church. She also loved country music. Her father often listened to Hank Williams on the radio from Nashville, Tennessee. Linda told the Courier-Post in 1998 that they mostly knew country music until they were teenagers.

Linda, her sister, and her cousin formed a singing group called The Anglos. They sang R&B music around Columbia, South Carolina. A local DJ, Charles "Big Saul" Greene, told her to change her name from Thelma Bynem to Linda Martell. He said, "Your name is Linda Martell. You look like Linda. That fits you."

Music Career Journey

1962–1969: R&B and a Big Change

In 1962, The Anglos traveled to Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They recorded their first R&B song, "A Little Tear (Was Falling from My Eyes)". Fire Records released it, but it wasn't a hit. The group, now called Linda Martell and the Anglos, performed often. They also sang backup for other R&B artists like The Drifters. They released more songs on the Vee-Jay label, such as "Lonely Hours". A writer for Rolling Stone called it "simmering, forlorn girl-group pop".

The group eventually broke up when her cousin got married and her sister left. Linda Martell became a solo artist. For several years, she continued to sing R&B music.

One day, while singing country songs at an air force base in South Carolina, Linda was heard by William "Duke" Rayner. He was a furniture salesman from Nashville. He offered to help her record a demo song. At first, Linda thought he was a bit strange and said no. But after he kept asking, she agreed, and Rayner became her manager.

Rayner believed Linda could be a country music star, just like Charley Pride, who was a successful black country singer. He told Ebony in 1970, "I figured that if I could find a colored girl that could sing country and western, I'd really have something." Linda then went to Nashville. She met producer Shelby Singleton and recorded a demo. Singleton convinced her to become a country singer. Linda was surprised. She told Rolling Stone in 2020, "I was a little bit shocked! I was mostly doing pop. But he said, 'You gotta go country'."

1969–1974: Country Music Success

On May 15, 1969, Linda Martell signed a contract with her manager, Rayner. The next day, she signed with Singleton's Plantation label. Linda didn't like the name "Plantation" because it reminded her of slave plantations in the American South. But she felt she had no other choice.

Soon after, Singleton found songs for Linda to record. One of the first was "Color Him Father", a popular song by The Winstons. She recorded this song and ten others in just one 12-hour session. "Color Him Father" was released in July 1969. It climbed to number 22 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Her next song was "Before the Next Teardrop Falls". This song reached number 33 on the Billboard country chart in 1970.

In August 1970, her first album, Color Me Country, was released. It reached number 40 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Billboard praised her album, saying her country singing style was real. Later, AllMusic also gave the album good reviews. Her last song to appear on the charts was "Bad Case of the Blues".

With her new success, Linda Martell got many chances to perform. She appeared on TV shows like The Bill Anderson Show and Hee Haw in 1970. She also made her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry radio show. She became the first black female artist to perform there. She would perform at the Opry a total of 12 times. In the American South, she was called the "First Female Negro Country Artist". She performed with famous country artists like Waylon Jennings and Hank Snow.

Linda later said that being a black country artist was often hard. She remembered white audiences sometimes shouted mean, racist words at her while she was singing. She told Rolling Stone, "You're gonna run into hecklers, and I did...You felt pretty awful."

As Linda's country music career went on, the taunting became less frequent but never fully stopped. She also faced other problems. In May 1970, her manager Rayner sued her for more money. Her producer, Singleton, also told her he wouldn't promote her as much. He said another artist, Jeannie C. Riley, was selling more records. Linda then left her contract with Plantation. She recorded some songs for a different label. But Singleton found out and threatened to sue that company. Linda said in 2020, "He blackballed me...It ruined my reputation in country music." After a few more years of limited success, Linda Martell decided to leave the Nashville music industry.

1975–Present: New Paths and Recognition

After leaving Nashville, Linda Martell continued to sing in other ways. For about 20 years, she performed in small clubs across the United States. She lived in places like California, Florida, and New York City. She had different jobs, including entertaining on a cruise ship and owning a record store.

In 1991, she moved back to South Carolina to be closer to her children. To earn a better living, she became a bus driver for her local school district. She also kept performing with a band on weekends. They played at family reunions, weddings, and parties. Many people in her area didn't know about her past success. But her co-workers at the school did. At one high school assembly, a principal spoke about her earlier work: "Others study about black history. We have black history right here in our own school."

Linda Martell retired from her school job in the mid-2000s. She last performed publicly in 2011 with her band, Eazzy. In 2014, a Swedish TV show called Jills veranda – Nashville (Jill's Porch – Nashville) found and interviewed Linda. The hosts traveled to South Carolina to meet her. They talked about her music and why she left her recording career. The hosts even performed some of her songs with her.

In 2020, Linda became a topic of conversation again. Country artist Rissi Palmer named her Apple Music podcast after Linda's 1970 album, Color Me Country. Rissi Palmer also supports black and brown artists in country music through the Color Me Country™ Artist Grant Fund. In 2021, Linda Martell's granddaughter started a GoFundMe campaign. It aimed to create a documentary about Linda's career and the challenges she faced as a black performer in Nashville.

In 2024, Linda Martell was featured on Beyoncé's country album Cowboy Carter. She spoke on two songs: "Spaghettii" and "The Linda Martell Show". Linda shared on Instagram, "I am proud that @beyonce is exploring her country music roots. What she is doing is beautiful, and I’m honored to be a part of it. It’s Beyoncé, after all!" The song "Spaghettii" was nominated for a Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. This was Linda Martell's first Grammy nomination.

Musical Style and Impact

Linda Martell's music blended country, gospel, and R&B styles. Writers at Ebony magazine described her voice as having "gutsy, emotional soul". They also noted her strong background in gospel and R&B. Linda herself saw these connections when she recorded "Color Him Father". Writer David Browne said she sang the song in a way that was "a little bit country and a little bit R&B."

When talking about country music, Linda explained that it tells a story. She said, "Country music tells a story...When you choose a song and you can feel it, that's what made me feel great about what I was singing. I did a lot of country songs, and I loved every one of them. Because they just tell a story." Katie Moulton of the Oxford American also noted Linda's country singing style. She compared Linda's delivery to that of torch singers like Dusty Springfield and Dinah Washington.

Linda Martell was one of the first black artists to find success in country music. Her career helped inspire other black artists in the industry, such as Kane Brown and Mickey Guyton. In 2020, Mickey Guyton remembered searching online for "black women country singers" and being surprised to find Linda's music. She said, "I didn't even know she existed...I felt really bad when I discovered that I didn’t know." Kane Brown also reflected, "Color was a thing back then. It's still a thing today, but it was worse back then. She was so brave." Fellow black country artist Rissi Palmer told NPR that her 2020 podcast was "paying homage to the foundation on which my house is built, and that is Linda Martell."

Linda Martell received the Equal Play Award at the 2021 CMT Music Awards. This award recognized her work as a black female performer in country music. Artists like Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Rissi Palmer, Rhiannon Giddens, Jennifer Nettles, and Mickey Guyton gave a tribute to her during the show.

Personal Life and Health

Linda Martell has been married twice. At age 19, she married drummer Clark Thompson. They had three children together. In 1966, they separated. She later married Ted Jacobs, a business owner. Ted also had a child from his first marriage. The family lived in Nashville while Linda was signed to Plantation Records. In 1970, she spoke to Ebony magazine about the challenges of being a traveling performer, a wife, and a mother. She said, "I'm used to spending time with my family."

After leaving the country music industry, Jacobs and Martell separated. Linda then started a relationship with Jacobs' business partner. They traveled and lived in several states before Linda returned to South Carolina. In 2004, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and received treatment. She made a full recovery and later moved in with one of her children in South Carolina.

Music Releases

Albums

Linda Martell released one studio album:

Singles

Here are some of the songs Linda Martell released as singles:

Other Appearances

Linda Martell has also appeared on other artists' songs:

Awards and Nominations

Linda Martell has received these awards and nominations: