Jessi Colter

Jessi Colter
Jessi Colter performing at the South by Southwest music festival 2006
Background information
Birth name	Miriam Johnson
Born	(1943-05-25) May 25, 1943 (age 73) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Genres	Country, Outlaw country
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	1970–present
Labels	Black Country Rock Media, RCA, Capitol, Triad, Peter Pan, Shout! Factory
Associated acts	Duane Eddy, Shooter Jennings, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings
Website	Official Website

Miriam Johnson, known professionally as Jessi Colter (born May 25, 1943), is an American country music artist who is best known for her collaboration with her husband, country singer and songwriter Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 country-pop crossover hit "I'm Not Lisa".

Jessi Colter was one of the few female artists to emerge from the mid-1970s "outlaw" movement. After meeting her future husband, Colter pursued a career in country music, releasing her first studio LP in 1970, A Country Star Is Born. Five years later, Colter signed with Capitol Records and released her first solo single, "I'm Not Lisa," which topped the country charts and reached the top 5 on the pop charts. In 1976 she was featured on the collaboration LP Wanted: The Outlaws, which became an RIAA-certified Platinum album, and helped her become one of the few female outlaw country stars.

Miriam Johnson was born in 1943 in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in a strict Pentecostal home. Her mother was a Pentecostal preacher and her father was a race-car driver. At age 11, Colter became the pianist at her church. After graduating from Mesa High, Ariz. in 1961, she began singing in local clubs in Phoenix. After marrying guitarist Duane Eddy in 1961, and still using her real name of Miriam Johnson, she issued two singles that were issued on the Jamie label. The first, "Lonesome Road", received scattered airplay in several US markets, though not enough to make any national charts. After a second single failed to even get regional airplay, Johnson did not record again for nearly a decade. She continued to tour with Eddy until divorcing in 1968. The following year, she met country artist Waylon Jennings who helped her secure a recording contract with RCA Victor.

Johnson, now billing herself as "Jessi Colter", resumed her recording career in 1970. That year, Waylon Jennings and Colter sang duet on two top 40 country chart hits. On March 25, 1970 she played keyboard for her husband during his appearance on The Johnny Cash Show. She released her debut album, A Country Star is Born, on RCA, with Jennings and Chet Atkins co-producing The album was not successful and did not make an impact on the country music market. It was Colter's only album for RCA, and she left the label soon after. However, her face appears on several Jennings record covers from this period.