Karen Brooks (born April 30, 1954) is an American country music singer and songwriter who is best known for a series of singles recorded by Emmylou Harris,

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature int ...

, Russell Smith, David Allen Coe, Crystal Gayle and Exile. She won a Grammy for her contribution to the soundtrack for the Sesame Street movie ''Follow That Bird''. She sang a duet with Johnny Cash, "I Will Dance With You", and also with

T. G. Sheppard William Neal Browder (born July 20, 1944) is an American country music singer-songwriter, known professionally as T. G. Sheppard. He had 14 number-one hits on the US country charts between 1974 and 1986, including eight consecutive number ones ...

, "

Faking Love "Faking Love" is a song written by Matraca Berg and Bobby Braddock, and recorded by American country music artists T. G. Sheppard William Neal Browder (born July 20, 1944) is an American country music singer-songwriter, known professionally a ...

", which was a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' country chart in February 1983. She also had a number of top 40 songs as a recording artist on

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Brooks was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. She attended

Justin F. Kimball High School Justin F. Kimball High School is a public secondary school in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It enrolls students in grades 9–12, and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. The school is named in honor of J ...

with schoolmate Stevie Ray Vaughan (Class of '72). She was formerly married to

Gary P. Nunn Gary P. Nunn (born December 4, 1945) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is best known for writing "London Homesick Blues", which was the theme song for ''Austin City Limits'' from 1977 to 2004 (seasons 2–29). Nunn is also consi ...

, with whom she had one child, a son, Lukin Tolliver Nunn. Her mother, Lynn Brooks, was a make-up artist in the motion-picture industry. During the latter half of the 1970s and the early half of the 1980s, she lent her vocals to recordings by

Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country music and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He was bes ...

, David Allan Coe, Steven Fromholz,

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

and Emmylou Harris. Karen Brooks''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

''; retrieved 6-6-08 She remained a popular background singer for much of the late 1970s. She then headed to California to work alongside

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

, where she eventually picked up a recording contract with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Both "New Way Out" and "Faking Love" hit the Top 20 of ''Billboard''.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Karen 1954 births Living people Bryan Adams High School alumni American women country singers American country singer-songwriters People from Dallas Musicians from Austin, Texas Warner Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas Country musicians from Texas 21st-century American women