Little Miss Dynamite

She was born in an Atlanta charity ward and raised in the red-clay backwoods of Georgia, the daughter of an itinerant carpenter. But Brenda had a God-given voice that took her from an inheritance of poverty and obscurity to a destiny of glamour, wealth, fame, and adulation.
Brenda Lee is one of the female founders of rock 'n' roll. She is a star on five continents and has recorded hits in seven languages. She is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and was inducted in 2002 into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. This four-time Grammy Award contender has immortalized such classics as "I'm Sorry," "Break It to Me Gently," and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." She has scored hits in such diverse fields as pop, rock, easy-listening, country, and r&b.
With a career that has thrived for almost six decades, Brenda Lee has lived through events, eras, and personalities that are as colorful as anything in fiction or on film. And now this beloved star tells the sweeping saga of her life and times for the first time. Brenda recounts an astonishingly dramatic life, filled with early poverty, tragic deaths, a nonexistent childhood, a controlling manager, young elopement, illnesses, barely averted financial disaster, and one of show business's most durable marriages. Her life has touched some of the most legendary names in the annals of entertainment - Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Judy Garland, Bob Dylan, Sophie Tucker, Elton John, and Willie Nelson among them.

Brenda Lee is one of the most famous and popular female recording stars of all time. She has co-written more than a dozen songs, has writen a volume of poetry, and is the author of a popular cookbook. Brenda has recently been elected to the Board of Trustees of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Co-author Robert K. Oermann is a journalist, music historian, and television producer. He serves on the board of the Recording Academy and is editor-at-large ofCountry Music and a weekly columnist for Music Row. He has published more than 2,000 articles in over 100 national publications, includingUSA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, Us magazine,TV Guide, and The Washington Post. He has produced and/or annotated more than sixty historical reissue albums. This is his seventh book.

Julie Clay is the author of the short story collection The Stars that Shine and serves as a contributing editor to several national lifestyle magazines. With an extensive background in advertising and public relations, she previously served as Executive Director of the Nashville Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. An accomplished pianist and songwriter, she is Brenda Lee's oldest daughter.