Early Life and Career
Kay Toinette Oslin was born in Crossett, Arkansas, but soon after her birth her family moved to Memphis, Tennessee and then to Houston, Texas. Oslin considers Houston her hometown. She attended Methodist-affiliated Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas, relocating to New York upon graduation.
Oslin initially performed as a folk singer with Guy Clark. She soon began doing advertising jingles, which led to appearances in a number of television commercials.
During the late 1970s, Oslin moved to Nashville and began writing songs. Her first Top 10 hit, as a writer, came when Gail Davies produced her song, "Round The Clock Lovin'."
Between 1981 and the present, she has released seven studio albums, and has charted more than fifteen singles on the Billboard country charts. In 1987, after a brief run with Elektra Records, she signed with RCA Records. Her first top-ten single, 1987's "80s Ladies", a self-penned song, which proved to be something of an anthem for a generation of female listeners nearing middle age, proved to be her breakthrough; the song would earn Oslin a Grammy Award, and would be named the Country Music Association's Song of the Year in 1988. Other singles included the Number One hits "Do Ya" (1987), "I'll Always Come Back", "Hold Me" (both 1988), and "Come Next Monday" (1990), as well as three additional Top Ten hits. Additional hits included "Hey Bobby", "Hold Me", "Mary and Willie", "This Woman", and "Didn't Expect it to Go Down This Way." Her song, "Younger Men" appeared on the White Palace movie soundtrack. The film starred Susan Sarandon and James Spader.
She continued to record and release new material into the '90s, though her chart success began to wane. Also during the early '90s, Oslin branched out into acting, taking roles on Paradise, and Evening Shade with Burt Reynolds. On the big screen she co-starred in The Thing Called Love with Sandra Bullock and River Phoenix. Her 2001 album, Live Close By, Visit Often was produced by Raul Malo, who also wrote several of the songs.
She ranked No. 37 in "CMT's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music" in 2002.
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