# Born 114 Years Ago Today in Tennessee, the “Queen of Country Comedy” Who Wore a $1.98 Price Tag and Became a Grand Ole Opry Icon

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/born-114-years-ago-today-in-tennessee-the-queen-of-country-comedy-who-wore-a-1-98-price-tag-and-became-a-grand-ole-opry-icon/
- Published: 2026-10-25T09:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-25T10:10:37+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/born-114-years-ago-today-in-tennessee-the-queen-of-country-comedy-who-wore-a-1-98-price-tag-and-became-a-grand-ole-opry-icon/
- Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment

## Key points

- Sarah Colley created the beloved Minnie Pearl character.
- She was an Opry regular for more than 50 years.
- Her hat kept its original $1.98 price tag.

## Summary

Sarah Ophelia Colley, known to audiences as Minnie Pearl, was born in Tennessee on 25 October 1912. For more than 50 years, her comic character made her a Grand Ole Opry fixture, gently parodying rural Southern life and becoming one of country music’s best-known performers.

Colley developed Minnie Pearl while working as a travelling theatre director, drawing on people she encountered in North Alabama. She debuted at the Opry on 30 November 1940 and became known for her flowered hat, still bearing its $1.98 price tag, and greeting, “How-dee!” She appeared on radio and television, including Hee Haw, recorded six albums and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1975; she retired after a stroke in 1991 and died in 1996, aged 83.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.