NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Patti Page, the “Singing Rage” who made “Tennessee Waltz” one of the best-selling recordings ever, has died. She was 85.
Page died Tuesday in Encinitas, Calif., according to publicist Schatzi Hageman.
Page was the top-selling female singer of the 1950s, with more than 100 million records sold. Her most enduring songs remain “Tennessee Waltz” and “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window.”
“I was a kid from Oklahoma who never wanted to be a singer, but was told I could sing,” she said in a 1999 interview. “And things snowballed.”
Born Sara Ann Fowler in 1927, she created a distinctive sound for the music industry in 1947 by overdubbing her own voice when she didn’t have enough money to hire backup singers for the single “Confess.” She went on to score 24 songs in the Top 10, including four that reached No. 1, and became the first singer to have television programs on all three major networks.
She got her stage name working at a Tulsa radio station that had a 15-minute program sponsored by the Page Milk Co.