Mary Joan Okum (née Kath; October 27, 1924 – December 8, 2015), known by her performing name Bonnie Lou, was an American musical pioneer, recognized as one of the first female rock and roll singers.

At 17, after she graduated from high school, she sent an audition record to KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri, and was signed to a five-year contract to perform on the Brush Creek Follies barn dance show as "Sally Carson," and with a group called The Rhythm Rangers.

"[13]In 1945, Bill McCluskey, executive at WLW in Cincinnati, first learned of Bonnie Lou from a salesman he met on a train who "proceeded to rave about a young teenage country and western singer named Sally Carson who in his opinion was the best in the business..."[14] McCluskey had the girl send a transcription of her singing to WLW.

She was promptly featured on Boone County Jamboree, which became Midwestern Hayride Country & Western Radio Program broadcasts and live tours.

During her years with WLW, Bonnie Lou often performed at country music hub Nashville, Tennessee on weekends, including several times at the Grand Ole Opry.

[18] In 1950, two masked men entered her home at one a.m., shoved her into a kitchen closet, and demanded to know where her husband was, saying they wanted him to open the bank safe for them.

Some of her radio performances were cut to acetate and released to the public, but she didn't gain prominence as a recording artist until the 1950s.

[26] When her contract with King expired, Bonnie Lou could have signed with a major label, but declined since it would have required her moving to New York.

"[29] As television eclipsed radio in popularity, Bonnie Lou's engaging personality and beauty allowed her to easily adapt to the visual medium.

[32][33][34] Bonnie Lou, dubbed "Queen of the Hayride",[35] (and sometimes affectionately referred to on the show as "Queenie"[36]) appeared on the program until it ceased production in 1972.

She appeared regularly on the Ruth Lyons (broadcaster) 50-50 Club, an innovative live weekday talk and entertainment show that had 7 million viewers at its peak, though it was only aired regionally.

[37] As busy as her TV schedule was, she hosted Six Star Ranch, a WLW live music radio show transmitted nationwide by the Mutual Broadcasting System.

Until her retirement she performed not just on radio and television, but at taverns, county fairs, conventions, trade shows, and countless other venues.

Even at 17, when her career was building momentum, a columnist for the Atchison (KS) Daily Globe wrote of the young performer that "When Sally Carson looks at us with that twinkle in her eyes, we're ready to believe anything.

The resolution invites "our local community and beyond to reflect on the talent and remarkable achievements of the hometown girl who grew up to be a star.

"[46][47] In 1971, BBC disk jockey Jimmy Savile played for his listeners Bonnie Lou's "Tennessee Wig Walk", which had reached number 4 on the British music charts in 1953.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the song's "catchy rhythm and pause before the final two notes caught [football] fans' imagination, and within a few weeks it reverberated with new sets of lyrics – some of them repeatable – round every ground in the country."

It is rated 4.5 (of 5) stars by AllMusic which calls it "an excellent anthology of an artist whose genre-straddling recordings will appeal to '50s country, rock, and pop music lovers".

On March 8, 2015, The Pantagraph newspaper of Bloomington, Illinois published an extended feature about Bonnie Lou's career, and a companion article about the longevity of her fan club.

[53][54] Bonnie Lou died in her sleep on the morning of December 8, 2015 at Hillebrand Nursing And Rehabilitation Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, aged 91.

[55][56][57][58] Posthumous tributes to Bonnie Lou were featured by media throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.