Davis was born Mary Frances Penick on December 30, 1931 in Dry Ridge, KY. Because her grandfather thought she had a lot of energy for a young child, he nicknamed Mary Frances “Skeeter” (slang for mosquito).
In the spring of 1953, Skeeter and her high school friend, Betty Jack, were offered a recording contract at RCA. They recorded “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know.” The record ranks number 65 on the Top 100 Country Singles of All Time.
On August 1, 1953, the Davis Sisters were in a car accident and Betty Jack was killed in the collision. Six months after the accident, at her mother’s insistence, Skeeter resumed singing in the duo with Georgia Davis, Betty Jack’s younger sister. Between 1954 and 1956, Skeeter and Georgia released a total of nine singles for RCA as the Davis Sisters and toured alongside Minnie Pearl, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Chet Atkins. The duo disbanded in 1956 and Skeeter became a solo act.
From 1960 to 1962, Davis had top-10 hits with the songs “(I Can’t Help You) I’m Falling Too,” “My Last Date (With You)”, “Where I Ought to Be”, and “Optimistic”. The song, “(I Can’t Help You) I’m Falling Too” went all the way to the top 40, unheard of for a female country singer at the time.
In 1963, Davis achieved her biggest success with country pop crossover hit “The End of the World.” In the late 1960s, she recorded several full-length albums, including two tribute works: Skeeter Davis Sings Buddy Holly and I Love Flatt and Scruggs.
In 1970, Davis had another top-10 hit with “I’m a Lover (Not a Fighter)” and another duet with Bobby Bare with “Your Husband, My Wife”. The following year, she had a hit with the autobiographical “Bus Fare To Kentucky”. In the 1970s, she began regularly touring foreign countries such as Barbados, Singapore and Sweden, where she retained a following.
Her autobiography, Bus Fare to Kentucky (named after a 1971 song), was published in 1993. In 1998, she wrote a children’s book, The Christmas Note, with Cathie Pelletier.
On September 19, 2004, Davis died of breast cancer at age 72.
To learn more about Skeeter Davis, visit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeeter_Davis
