They moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1940 to sing on WSB Barn Dance; she began using the nickname Mattie at this time.
In 1947, she married Salty Holmes, and in 1950 they moved to Chicago, Illinois, to appear on National Barn Dance on WLS-AM.
She befriended Tammy Wynette, who would later briefly marry her brother, Don (shortly before her marriage to George Jones).
Chapel's greatest success in the music industry was as a songwriter, penning "Lonely Again", a number one song for Eddy Arnold.
Among the other artists to record Chapel songs are Liz Anderson, Nancy Sinatra, Tommy Overstreet, Charlie McCoy, and Lorrie Morgan.