Roselea Arbana "Rose" Maddox[note 1] (August 15, 1925 – April 15, 1998) was an American country singer-songwriter and fiddle player, who was the lead singer with the Maddox Brothers and Rose before a successful solo career.
She was noted for her "reputation as a lusty firebrand", and her "colorful Western costumes"; she was one of the earliest clients of Hollywood tailor, Nathan Turk.
[1][5] The station offered her brothers a regular slot on condition that Rose sing with them, despite the opposition of their mother, who managed the group.
Rose became noted for her colorful performances, once shocking a Grand Ole Opry audience by appearing with a bare midriff.
[5][6] She had 14 hits on the Billboard country singles chart between 1959 and 1964, including several duets with Buck Owens,[7] and also recorded with Bill Monroe.
[1] Her biggest hit, "Sing a Little Song of Heartache," reached no.3 on the country chart at the end of 1962.
After her contract with the company ended in 1965, she began to concentrate on tours, performing with her brothers Cal and Henry and son Donnie – who died in 1982 – in the UK, Europe and elsewhere.
[8] She suffered several heart attacks from the late 1960s onwards, but continued to perform and record, for several labels.
In later years she lived in Ashland, Oregon, near where her brother Don Maddox had bought a ranch in 1958.
The book won an award for excellence in 1998 from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC).