Donna Fargo
- Soundtrack
Country singer/songwriter Donna Fargo was born as Yvonne Vaughan on
November 10, 1945 in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Donna began singing in
her early teens. She attended both High Point College and the
University of Southern California. Following graduation from college,
Fargo began working as a high school teacher in Covina, California and
eventually became head of the English Department. She met her future
husband and manager Stan Silver in California; they got married in
1968. Fargo initially began performing in various clubs in California.
In 1966 Donna went to Phoenix, Arizona, adopted her stage name Donna
Fargo, and recorded her first single. Her first major stage show was
with Ray Price. In 1969 Fargo was named the Top New Female Vocalist by
the Academy of Country Music Awards. In 1972 Donna scored her first big
country hit with the infectiously upbeat "The Happiest Girl in the
Whole U.S.A." the song peaked at #1 on the country charts and went all
the way to #11 on the Billboard pop charts. Fargo subsequently won a
Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "The
Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A." and was named the Top Female
Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music Awards. The equally charming
follow-up song "Funny Face" did ever better: it was another #1 country
hit and cracked the Top 5 on the Billboard pop charts. Donna had two
more #1 country hits with the songs "Superman" and "You Were Always
There." She scored additional #1 country hits with "You Can't Be a
Beacon If Your Light Don't Shine" and "That Was Yesterday." Fargo's
other 70's country hits include such songs as ""Little Girl Gone,"
"I'll Try a Little Bit Harder," "It Do Feel Good," "Mr. Doodles,"
"Mockingbird Hill," and "Daddy." She hosted her own short-lived TV
series in the late 70's. In 1978 Donna was diagnosed with multiple
sclerosis; she took some time off to recover and bounced back in 1979.
Although her career waned a bit in the 80's, Fargo continued to record
albums and singles throughout that particular decade. She had a Top 30
country hit with "Me and You" and "Members Only," a duet with Billy Joe
Royal, peaked at #23 on the country charts in 1987. Outside of music,
Donna has her own successful line of greeting cards and has written
several books of poetry. She still continues to tour and perform in
concert in both the United States and other countries. In 2008 Donna
Fargo released the CD single "We Can Do Better in America."