On 4 August 1957, Patsy Cline released her self-titled debut studio album on Decca Records, an early milestone in a career that would help bring country music to mainstream pop audiences. Although the record was not a major commercial success at the time, it introduced listeners to a voice now regarded as one of country music's most influential, and marked the start of her long collaboration with producer Owen Bradley, a key architect of the "Nashville sound".

The album's lead single, "Walkin' After Midnight", became a crossover hit on both the pop and country charts after Cline performed it on the television show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, though the follow-up single, "I Don't Wanta", failed to chart. The 12-track LP included "Don't Ever Leave Me Again", which Cline co-wrote. She went on to release two further albums, including 1961's "Crazy" (written by Willie Nelson), before dying in a plane crash in 1963; a posthumous compilation, The Patsy Cline Story, followed three months later.