Margo Smith (born Betty Lou Miller; April 9, 1939 – January 23, 2024) was an American country and Christian music singer–songwriter.

She had been interested in performing since childhood, especially after watching country singers on the local television show, Midwestern Hayride.

[10][11][12][13] At the same time, Smith maintained her full-time teaching career, working at Westlake Elementary School in New Carlisle, Ohio.

[18] Jim Worbois of AllMusic rated the project at three stars, calling it "a collection of songs that constantly crosses the line between country and pop.

"[19] Three more singles were spawned from the album, including the top 20 hit, "Love's Explosion," and a duet with producer Norro Wilson.

Both "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" and "It Only Hurts for a Little While" reached the top spot and had previously been pop hits a decade prior to Smith's cover.

Writers Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann remarked of her musical image during this period as being "housewifey," while also highlighting the "Jean Arthur purr in her voice.

Together, with songwriter Mack David and producer Norro Wilson, she wrote a song that would alter her artistic image.

Titled "Still a Woman," the song focused on the marital needs facing middle-aged women, according to an excerpt from Billboard magazine.

She began incorporating a new concert style that included "increasingly flashy" stage shows, according to Kurt Wolff.

[25] Her career persona helped increase her fan club, which began to include a larger female audience.

[28] The album's two singles, which included a cover of Mary Wells' "My Guy" peaked outside the top 40 of the North American country charts.

[30] Four singles were released from the album that peaked outside the top 40 of the Billboard country chart, including a cover of Hank Williams' "Wedding Bells".

[3] The album featured Smith's yodeling vocal technique and was sold on television via direct-response marketing advertisements.

[4] In 1985, Dot Records revived its Nashville division and announced it would release music from veteran country performers.

Issued on Playback Records, the album contained cover versions of traditional pop standards, such as "You Belong to Me" and "Harbor Lights.

"[34] Spawned from the album was the song "Echo Me," which is her final charting single to date, peaking at number 77 on the Billboard country survey in 1988.

[38] The duo remained a popular touring act on the Christian music circuit as late as 1995 where they performed at a charity to raise money for disaster relief.

She also mentored performers who wanted to learn the skill, including Taylor Ware, who appeared on a season of America's Got Talent.

In 2015, she helped raise $11,000 for The Ukulele Kids Club, a Florida organization that provides musical instruments to children in hospitals.

Jim Worbois found that Smith's 1977 album, Happiness included songs that "would have sounded equally at home at pop radio" while finding a place with "pure country".

[19] Author Kurt Wolff noted a similar theme in her Warner Bros. albums, finding that their production often incorporated heavy elements country pop.

Writers Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann found that she often incorporated "quasi-yodel vocal breaks" into her singing performances.

"[46] In a 2006 interview, Smith explained that her yodeling style is created from a vocal break in her voice known as a "glottal catch".

[45][44] Kurt Wolff of Country Music: The Rough Guide explained that "few singers spoke so unabashedly of attempting to reinvigorate love's fading fires, especially from a woman's perspective."

Wolff further commented that Smith's songwriting contained "lyrical boldness" that helped provide voice to "middle-aged couples who'd been together for years.

"[7] Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann remarked that her concerts of the late 1970s were among "the era's flashiest show queen stage routines.

She spent three months at a local rehabilitation center and made a full recovery and was expected to return to performing in December 2014.

[48] Law enforcement officials later stated that Smith would not have survived the accident if she had not been wearing a seat belt or left her car's convertible top down.

[50] Smith died on January 23, 2024, in Franklin, Tennessee, at the age of 84, from complications of a stroke she suffered two days earlier.