Kitty Wells, born Ellen Muriel Deason in Nashville on 30 August 1919, is widely regarded as country music's first female star, having broken through in a male-dominated industry when male promoters and executives doubted women could sell records. In 1952 she became the first female country artist to top the US charts with "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", a song that gave voice to women's experiences at a time when few female artists were represented on air, paving the way for later stars such as Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.

Raised in a musical family, Wells learned guitar from her father and performed with her sisters before marrying singer Johnnie Wright at 18. After being dropped by RCA Victor in 1950, she recorded "Honky Tonk Angels" for Decca in 1952 as a response to Hank Thompson's hit "The Wild Side of Life"; despite initial refusals to air it by NBC and the Grand Ole Opry, the song topped the Billboard country chart for six weeks. Wells went on to notch 35 Billboard top 10 singles, became the first woman in country music to sell a million records, headline a major tour and host a syndicated TV variety show, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame before her death in 2012 aged 92.