Jeanne Pruett (JEE-NEE PRU-IT) (born Norma Jean Bowman; January 30, 1935)[1] is an American country music singer and songwriter.

The song topped the country music charts and helped her secure a membership in the Grand Ole Opry cast.

Soon after, the couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was hired to play guitar for country artist Marty Robbins.

After limited success she moved to Decca/MCA Records where 1971's "Hold on to My Unchanging Love" became her first charting single on the Billboard country list.

In July 1973, Pruett was made a member of the Grand Ole Opry and became a frequent performer on the broadcast for several decades.

[4] Pruett dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and got a job at a telephone company in Anniston, Alabama.

[6] The couple lived in a trailer park and were neighbors to country performers Lester Flatt, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Jean Shepard.

Shortly after the birth, Jack Pruett accepted a job playing guitar in Marty Robbins' road band.

[7] Robbins brought Pruett's songs to the attention of producer Chet Atkins at RCA Victor Records.

She worked several dates overseas booked by agent Hubert Long and made several appearances on the Grand Ole Opry.

[14] Decca (now MCA Records) believed that "Satin Sheets" was too traditional in its production and chose not to promote it as a single.

[2] The marketing method worked when "Satin Sheets" reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in May 1973.

While reviewing her 1973 album, Billboard magazine stated that "Miss Pruett let's loose some of that talent that restrained in relative obscurity over the years.

[22] "Dolly Parton announced me and said, 'Tonight I'm introducing the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry, Miss Satin Sheets, Jeanne Pruett'.

"With Jeanne now a star, with hit records and so many signed contracts for road dates, I had to buy a briefcase to carry them all," she wrote.

[24] Although the album peaked in a lower charting Billboard position, it included four singles that became top 40 country hits.

[9] The same year, Pruett left MCA and signed with Mercury Records as part of the label's Nashville artist expansion.

Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe commented that the tune "didn’t sound like the record of an artist serious about a comeback.

Between 1979 and 1980, Pruett had a major comeback after three of her singles reached the top ten of the Billboard country songs chart.

"It all added up to remarkable comeback by this personable start of IBC Records and the 'Grand Ole Opry'," writers commented.

The idea was formulated by Pruett who brought it to the attention of the organization after a 1985 television special honoring the 60th anniversary of the Opry.

[12][39] In 2006, Pruett announced her retirement from performing and no longer makes regular appearances on the Grand Ole Opry.

[22][12] After ten years of retirement, Pruett released an autobiography in 2018 entitled Miss Satin Sheets: I Remember.

In her autobiography, Pruett cited Eddy Arnold, Bill Monroe, Patsy Montana and Ernest Tubb as influences on her style.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic characterized her production influence when reviewing her 1998 "greatest hits" effort.

Other writers recognized that many of her songs centered around themes associated with love, wealth and women's independence in relationships.

Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann considered her style to be associated with "womanhood", drawing comparisons to Melba Montgomery and Jean Shepard.

"Jeanne Pruett always communicated womanly strength, backwoods country honesty, and intense emotional conviction," they wrote in 2003.

"She also evoked the wisdom of someone who knew what she wanted – her declarations of love, fidelity, and longing came from a place of strength," he noted.

She’s one of the first female country artists in history to start as a songwriter first, gaining credibility with her pen more than a decade before her voice was center stage.