Donna Fargo

Donna Fargo (born Yvonne Vaughn; November 10, 1945) is an American country singer-songwriter known for a series of Top 10 country hits in the 1970s. These include "The Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A." and "Funny Face", both of which were released in 1972 and became crossover pop hits that year.

Fargo has won major awards since her debut in the late 1960s, including one Grammy Award, five awards from the Academy of Country Music and one award from the Country Music Association.

Fargo was born Yvonne Vaughn on November 10, 1945, in Mount Airy, North Carolina. She sang from her early years, but never thought about singing professionally. Fargo attended High Point College in North Carolina, then earned a degree at the University of Southern California (USC). After graduating from USC, she became a teacher at Northview High School in Covina, California, eventually progressing to head of the English Department. While still teaching, Fargo started pursuing a music career, performing in local clubs in Southern California. In 1966 she met Stan Silver who became her manager and, in 1968, her husband.

Vaughn soon started to appear around Los Angeles, California, while teaching. She went to Phoenix in 1966 and adopted the name Donna Fargo, which she has continued to use since. As Donna Fargo, Vaughn recorded her second single, which was also her first using her new stage name. (When she had recorded her first single, Fargo had used her real name of Yvonne Vaughn.) Her first major concert was with Ray Price, and she began playing in Southern California.

She recorded for a few small labels in the early 1960s, including Ramco and Challenge, but songs like "Who's Been Sleeping on My Side of the Bed" were not successful. Although her original singles were not successful, the Academy of Country Music Awards named her the "Top New Female Vocalist" in 1969. In 1972, Fargo recorded a single for the Decca label before achieving her breakthrough that year.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.