She was raised in Foraker, Hardy, Muskogee, and Avant, Oklahoma,[4][5] before attending Daniel Webster High School in Tulsa, from which she graduated in 1945.

The following year the band traveled to Chicago, where she sang with a small group led by popular orchestra leader Benny Goodman.

[3] Page cut her first two discs ("Every So Often/What Every Woman Knows" and "There's A Man In My Life/The First Time I Kissed You") with the Eddie Getz and George Barnes Orchestras but they failed to chart.

The arrangement of "Confess" was meant to use a backing chorus, but Mercury would not pay for one since Page had not yet produced a charting single, so if she wanted additional singers she would have to hire them at her own expense.

She also released a Christmas album in 1951; this was reissued five years later with updated cover art on a 12" LP with a few new tracks to fill the run time out.

Page was introduced to the song by record producer Jerry Wexler, who suggested that she cover a recent R&B version by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra.

"Tennessee Waltz" became a blockbuster hit by complete accident—it was the B-side to "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" which Mercury had intended to promote during the 1950 holiday season.

The label intentionally put "Tennessee Waltz" on the disc to avoid drawing attention away from a planned Christmas hit, as they considered the song a throwaway with no hitmaking potential.

To everyone's complete surprise, it went on to spend nine weeks at #1 during December 1950-January 1951, while "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" failed to chart at all and was quickly forgotten.

"Tennessee Waltz" remains the biggest commercial success for the overdubbing technique, pioneered by producer Mitch Miller, which enabled Page to harmonize with herself.

The next single, "Mockin' Bird Hill", (a cover of the original by Les Paul and Mary Ford) was her fourth million seller.

Page had three more top 10 hits on Billboard in 1951, starting with "Mister and Mississippi", which peaked at number eight; "And So to Sleep Again"; and "Detour", which had been recorded and made famous by Spade Cooley, Foy Willing, and Elton Britt.

In 1956, Vic Schoen became Patti Page's musical director, producing her on a long string of hits that included "Mama from the Train", "Allegheny Moon", "Old Cape Cod", "Belonging to Someone", and "Left Right Out of Your Heart".

Many of these singles became hits, peaking in the top 20, including cover versions of "You Can't Be True, Dear", "Gentle on My Mind", and "Little Green Apples" (the last being her final appearance on the Billboard).

Some of these were recorded for Columbia and were released as adult contemporary singles, including David Houston's "Almost Persuaded" and Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man".

With Page's viability on the pop charts diminishing as she got older and with a radically changed cultural climate in America during the late 1960s, she decided to focus solely on country recordings.

[14] Working for Mercury, Columbia, and Epic in the 1970s, Page recorded a series of country singles, beginning with 1970's "I Wish I Had a Mommy Like You", which became a top-25 hit, followed by "Give Him Love", which had similar success.

In 1974 and 1975, she released singles for Avco Records, including "I May Not Be Lovin' You" and a cover of Hoyt Axton's "Less Than The Song", both of which were minor country hits.

[15] In the early 1990s, Page moved to San Diego, California, and continued to perform live shows at venues across the country.

[14] In 1998, a sample of Patti Page's recording of "Old Cape Cod" formed the basis of Groove Armada's UK hit "At the River".

The lines "If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air / Quaint little villages here and there..." sung in Page's multitracked close harmony, are repeated over and over, with the addition of synthesizer bass, slowed-down drums, and a bluesy trombone solo to produce a chill-out track.

Harmony vocals were provided by popular country stars, including Suzy Bogguss, Alison Krauss, Kathy Mattea, and Trisha Yearwood.

Miss Page was in Manchester to perform a sold-out concert at the Palace Theater to benefit Merrimack Valley Assistance Program.

[24] In 2004, she appeared on the PBS Special Magic Moments: The Best of 50s Pop and sang "Tennessee Waltz" and "Old Cape Cod".

[26] Page sang "Summer Me, Winter Me" for Michel Legrand's 50th-anniversary concert at the MGM Grand, and on the recording, it is evident she had forgotten the words.

[27] During the time of Page's greatest popularity (the late 1940s and 1950s), most of her traditional pop music contemporaries included jazz melodies in their songs.

[11] Many of Page's more successful hits featured a country-music arrangement, including her signature song "Tennessee Waltz", as well as "I Went to Your Wedding" and "Changing Partners".

[28] The couple owned a maple syrup business named The Farm at Woods Hill in Bath, New Hampshire, and resided in Solana Beach, California.

In his autobiography Lucky Me, published in 2011, former baseball player and front-office executive Eddie Robinson claims he dated Page before her second marriage.

Page died on January 1, 2013, at the Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas, California,[30] at the age of 85;[31] she had been suffering from heart and lung disease.