When she was just 11, her father took Barbara from their home in California to a music trade show in Chicago, where she demonstrated various musical instruments,.

Convention guests, including Chet Aktins and "Uncle" Joe Maphis, were impressed by the talented little girl, and Barbara was invited to join the "Joe Maphis Show" at the Showboat Hotel in Las Vegas. By now she had mastered not only her mother's accordion and the steel guitar, but the saxophone as well. The Joe Maphis musicianship/showmanship proved to be the single greatest influence in Barbara's performing career.

Barbara soon became a regular on "Town Hall Party", a local television show based in Los Angeles. This was followed by her network debut on Red Foley's ABC-TV show "Five Star Jubilee" and a concert tour with the Johnny Cash Show, featuring Patsy Cline, George Jones, and June Carter.

After Barbara's stint on the road, the family formed "The Mandrells", an act that grouped Barbara, Irby, and Mary. During their time together musically, the family band toured the West Coast and 18 foreign countries including Japan, the Philippines, Viet Nam and Thailand, entertaining the military community and various civic groups.

The Mandrells also hired Ken Dudney, a drummer, to join their act. He eventually traded in his drumsticks for another "tour of duty", this time with the United States Navy. Shortly after he received his wings as a navy pilot in 1967, Ken and Barbara were married. Ken was sent overseas, and Mandrell decided to retire from show business and become a housewife. However, her retirement was short. One night when she and her father were visiting the Grand Ole Opry, Barbara whispered in Irby's ear, "Daddy, I wasn't cut out to be in the audience." Barbara Mandrell the entertainer, was born all over again.

Comeback Performance Attracts Record Deals

Within 48 hours of a nightclub appearance near the Grand Ole Opry, she received offers for recording contracts from six record companies. In 1969, she signed with CBS Records, and emerged on the record charts with Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long", unveiling a "blue-eyed soul" style that garnered instant radio airplay. She recorded a collection of country hit singles, including her first No.1 hit, the classic "Midnight Oil". Today, that record is regarded as a major breakthrough in female country music because of its drama and startling frankness. 1n1975, she switched to ABC Records (purchased by MCA Records in 1978). Her first release on that label, Standing Room Only, established her as a powerful ballad singer.

Another one of her first hits to reach the top of the country charts was the bubbly "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed". The record became a cross-over hit on the pop charts--a forecast of the direction many of her recordings would take.

As the '70's drew to a close, Mandrell's style gravitated to a "country" version of rhythm and blues, and she topped the charts with touchy tunes like "Woman to Woman", "Married But Not to Each Other", "Years", and "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want to Be Right)".

She recorded 18 hit albums for MCA Records before moving to Capitol Records in 1986 where she released 6 recordings.

Mandrell Tackles Television

By 1979, Mandrell won her first CMA "Female Vocalist of the Year" Award. It was also in that year that television producer Marty Krofft, certain of Mandrell's draw as a multi-faceted star of a television series, convinced both NBC-TV and Mandrell of the potential for a weekly TV show.

"Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters" was a success both with critics and fans, exposed Mandrell to a new and broader audience, and introduced her sisters Louise and Irlene to the country. The show had two years (1980-1981, 1981-1982) of staying power in the Top-40 ratings and garnered consistent positive reviews. It was finally doctor's orders that forced Mandrell to give up her weekly series. She had been working as much as 16 hours a day, and the constant strain on her voice was taking its toll. The highly-rated series currently airs every Thursday night on The Nashville Network.

In 1983, Mandrell performed to Las Vegas audiences in triumph when she introduced her "The Lady Is A Champ" stage extravaganza at the MGM Grand Hotel. She then brought her entire Las Vegas show home to Nashville for three sold-out performances at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, where it was taped for her first HBO cable TV special.

A veteran of hundreds of TV guest appearances, she made the transition to acting on the small
screen when she starred in CBS television's "Burning Rage", which aired on September 21,
1984. Her first network variety special aired in January of 1985 and was called appropriately
enough "Barbara Mandrell--Something Special", for CBS television.

Mandrell was presented with an Outstanding Mother Award by the National Mother's DayCommittee in New York City. She feels her role as wife and mother is as important as her career, and is always available to her husband of 25 plus years, Ken Dudney, children;Matthew (5/8/70), Jaime (2/23/76) and Nathaniel Mandrell Dudney (9/6/85).