Excuse Me, But ...

Lynn Anderson, singer of "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden," offers Little Jimmy Dickens
a rose at the dedication of the Nashville Music Garden in Hall of Fame Park, Sept. 29, 2009.
Dipti Vaidya/The Tennessean

Dirt (Why not speak ill of the departed?):

In recent years Ms. Anderson had multiple arrests for driving under the influence. Following her September 2014 arrest in Nashville, Ms. Anderson apologized to her fans in a statement and affirmed that she was committed to her recovery. In June of 2015, she released the inspirational gospel album "Bridges."

Stuff you don't know until they're dead:

Lynn Rene Anderson was born Sept. 26, 1947 in Grand Forks, N.D., and raised in California. She came from a musical family: Her parents Casey and Liz Anderson were both songwriters; the latter penned the Merle Haggard hits “(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers” and “I’m a Lonesome Fugitive.”

Ms. Anderson’s debut single, a duet with Jerry Lane called “For Better or for Worse,” was released in 1966, when she was just 19 years old. It failed to chart. However, later that year her single “Ride, Ride, Ride,” cracked the country charts, and its successor, “If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)” was a Top 5 hit.

For two years during the late 1960s, Ms. Anderson was a regular on the popular “Lawrence Welk Show,” an outlet which exposed her to a nationwide audience. "It was appointment viewing," said WSM DJ and Grand Ole Opry announcer Eddie Stubbs. "Lynn Anderson really helped expand the boundaries of country music because there wasn't a lot of (it) on network television at that time."

Ms. Anderson herself weighed in on this one.