Writing and co-writing her own material, West had more top ten Nashville Sound-influenced singles like "Would You Hold It Against Me", "Paper Mansions" and "Rings of Gold".

In the early 1980s, West began an acting career, appearing on television shows such as The Love Boat and films such as The Aurora Encounter.

Dorothy Marie Marsh was born in Frog Pond, Tennessee, a community roughly 64 miles (103 km) northeast of Nashville in Macon County.

[26] Bill West found work in a steel facility and Dottie obtained a five-year contract on the regional country music television program Landmark Jamboree.

Along with her husband and children, the family spent numerous weekends traveling to Nashville, Tennessee where she attempted to score a recording contract.

[30] During this period, West and her husband met aspiring Nashville songwriters Hank Cochran, Red Lane, Roger Miller, Willie Nelson and Justin Tubb.

[37] "Here Comes My Baby" led to West winning the first-ever Grammy award given to a female country artist[39] and a membership to the Grand Ole Opry.

[41] Her follow-up singles reached the US country top 40 through 1966: "Didn't I", "Gettin' Married Has Made Us Strangers", "No Sign of Living" and "Before the Ring on Your Finger Turns Green".

Robert K. Oermann and Mary A. Bufwack wrote that West developed a "moaning quality that she began using to great emotional effect".

[17] Her next studio album House of Love[57] spawned two top 40 singles: the title track and "Lay Back Lover".

[37] Following this, West was putting finishing touches on a new track called "Every Time Two Fools Collide" when her session was interrupted by Kenny Rogers (who was waiting to use the studio next).

[46] Both discs became the first in West's career to sell half a million copies, receiving certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America.

[4] Alongside Rogers, she also made some of her first appearances on nationally televised programs including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

In 1979, she signed with Rogers' management team, Kragen and Co.[63] She also replaced Larry Butler with the newly established record producers Randy Goodrum and Brent Maher.

[46] Featuring her wearing skin tight pants and a cowgirl hat on the cover,[68] it climbed to the number five position on the US country chart.

[41] Both Full Circle and New Horizons spawned West's final top 40 singles: "You're Not Easy to Forget", "She Can't Get My Love off the Bed" and "Tulsa Ballroom".

Mo West was a songwriter and guitarist, notably for the American rock band Thunder, which was briefly signed to Atlantic Records.

[122] Several months later, an unknown caller informed bankruptcy trustee John McLemore that West was secretly hiding personal possessions in storage to avoid being seized by the IRS.

[133] Cline was scheduled to take an airplane alongside her road manager to Nashville, but was delayed due to poor weather conditions.

[142] Seventeen year-old Wariner was performing at the Nashville Country Club in Indianapolis, Indiana when West interrupted his show to sing harmony with him.

[147][148] West's RCA producer Chet Atkins highlighted her songwriting and vocal delivery and backed it with Nashville Sound production to help make it commercially successful.

[149] Authors Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann described West's RCA singles "Would You Hold It Against Me" and "Paper Mansions" as "definitive Nashville Sound hits".

[152] Robert K. Oermann compared West to that of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette, saying, "these women were American icons whose songs were about heartache and resilience.

"[153] Jason Ankeny of AllMusic wrote, "West's battles for identity and respect within the male-dominated country music hierarchy were instrumental in enabling other female artists to gain control over the directions of their careers.

"[22] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "In the mid-’60s, she was one of the handful of singers, including Loretta Lynn, who helped demonstrate that females could compete on honky-tonk jukeboxes with the men who had previously dominated the field.

Juli Thanki of The Tennessean wrote, "West continually reinvented herself during her career, transforming from the gingham-clad girl next door to chart-topping country bombshell.

"[25] Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann found that West had a "highly successful comeback" in her forties by taking on a "glamorous new image" and wearing "eye-popping costumes".

[161] In the 2010s, Jeannie Seely and Ron Harman began an effort to induct West into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Harman created a Facebook page in 2012 to bring attention to the campaign, which was titled "Dottie West Needs Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame".

[25] In 2014, Steve Wariner wrote an op-ed for Billboard magazine citing his reasons for why West should be inducted into the Hall of Fame as well: "In my humble opinion, Dottie helped build the template for the modern day country girl singer.