‘Rose Garden’ singer Lynn Anderson dies

Grammy winning country music legend Lynn Anderson has died at the age of 67. Anderson died Thursday night at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. According to The Tennessean , she had been hospitalized with pneumonia following a trip to Italy and died from a heart attack. Best known as the singer of the pop crossover hit “Rose Garden,” Anderson charted 60 songs on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart between 1966 and 1989. She remained active in music. Her most recent album, the gospel collection Bridges , was released in June. That same month, she signed autographs for fans every day during the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, and she continued to tour regularly. In addition to “Rose Garden,” her No. 1 hits included “You’re My Man,” “How Can I Unlove You,” “Keep Me In Mind” and “What A Man, My Man Is.” She won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female for “Rose Garden” in 1970. She also won female vocalist awards from both the Country Music Association and twice from the Academy of Country Music, and was the first female country artist to win an American Music Award in 1974. That same year, she became the first female country artist to headline a sold out show at New York’s Madison Square Garden. In addition to numerous other honors, she was named Billboard “Artist of the Decade” for the 1970s. Anderson was a regular on TV’s “The Lawrence Welk Show” for two years and acted in the film “Country Girl.” She has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. She is survived by her father, her partner Mentor Williams, three children and four grandchildren. Reba McEntire released a statement reading, "I am a huge fan of Lynn’s. She was always so nice to me. She did so much for the females in country music. Always continuing to pave the road for those to follow. I loved her music and her love for horses. ‘Rose Garden’ was a song I sang in high school in our Kiowa Cowboys High School band. She will be missed." Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys also released a statement: “It was a pleasure to record with Lynn. I remember the first time we saw her at the Utah State Fair. We were playing the small stage and we finished early enough to see her on the main stage. She owned Utah that night. She didn't stop until she won everybody's hearts including mine. She sang her way to heaven."