Donna Fargo (born Yvonne Vaughn on November 10, 1945 in Mount Airy, North Carolina) is a country music singer from the ’70s.
Prior to her music career, Donna worked as a teacher in Covina, California at Northview High School and eventually became the head of the English Department.
While living in California, she met a man named Stan Silver, who became her manager when she was performing in clubs in California and first began pursuing a career in music; at this point, she was still teaching. In 1968, she married Stan Silver.
During the late ’60s, she recorded for a few small record labels, releasing singles such as “Who’s Been Sleeping on My Side of the Bed,” “Kinda Glad I’m Me,” “Would You Believe a Lifetime”, “All That’s Keeping Me Alive” and “Daddy,” but neither of them generated much success; howeer, she was named the “Top New Female Vocalist” award by the Academy of Country Music Awards in 1969.
In 1972, Donna released the single “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.” (which she wrote herself) which was picked up by the Dot Records label, who then signed her to a record deal.
The song became a hit, topping Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart for three weeks and stayed on the chart for 23 weeks; it also managed to cross over to the pop charts, peaking at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on Billboard’s Easy Listening Singles chart.
“The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.” also won two Academy of Country Music Awards for “Song of the Year” and “Single of the Year”, and even won a Grammy Award for “Best Female Country Vocal Performance.”
At the time, Donna was one of the few female country music singers to write her own material and one of the few country music singers to cross over to the Billboard Hot 100 in a big way.
In May of that same year, Donna released her debut album “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.” which peaked at #47 on the Billboard 200 and topped Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
In early 1973, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA, selling over 500,000 copies and also won an Academy of Country Music Award for “Album of the Year.”
The follow-up single from the album “Funny Face” became Donna’s second number-one song on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, topping the chart for 3 weeks and staying on the chart for 16 weeks. It also peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 (making it her only highest-charting single on the Hot 100 to date) and #5 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart.
In February of 1973, Donna released her sophomore album, “My Second Album” which peaked at #104 on the Billboard 200 chart and topped Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The lead single from the album, “Superman” became Donna’s third number-one song on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, topping the chart for a week and stayed on the chart for 14 weeks; it also peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #35 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart.
The follow-up single, “You Were Always There” topped Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart (making it Donna’s fourth number-one hit on the chart) for a week and stayed on the chart for 14 weeks; it also peaked at #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #47 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart.
In October of 1973, Donna released her third album, “All About a Feeling” which peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, but didn’t make the Billboard 200.
The lead single, “Little Girl Gone” peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 14 weeks, becoming Donna’s first song not to top the country music charts. The song also peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #43 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart.
The follow-up single from the album, “I’ll Try a Little Bit Harder” peaked at #6 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 12 weeks.
In 1974, she released her fourth album, “Miss Donna Fargo” which peaked at #4 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The single “You Can’t Be a Beacon If Your Light Don’t Shine” topped Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart for a week (making it Donna’s fifth number-one song on the chart) and stayed on the chart for 15 weeks. It also peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #14 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart.
The follow-up single, “U.S. of A.” peaked at #86 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 15 weeks.
The last single released from the album, “It Do Feel Good” peaked at #7 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart and #98 on the Billboard Hot 100 (making it Donna’s last appearance on the Hot 100 chart to date).
In July of 1975, she released her fifth album, “Whatever I Say Means I Love You” which peaked at #28 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The lead single from the album, “Hello Little Bluebird” peaked at #14 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 14 weeks.
The follow-up singles: “Whatever I Say (Means I Love You)” (which peaked at #38), “What Will the New Year Bring” (which peaked at #58) and “You’re Not Charlie Brown (And I’m Not Raggedy Ann)” (which peaked at #60) were moderately successful on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart.
In 1976, Donna moved to Warner Bros. Records after Dot Records was acquired by the ABC Records label; during that same year, she released her sixth album “On the Move” which peaked at #31 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The two singles released from the album “Mr. Doodles” (which peaked at #20) and “I’ve Loved You All of the Way” (which peaked at #15) were also moderately successful on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart.
In 1977, Donna released her first compliation album, “The Best of Donna Fargo” which peaked at #9 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The lead single from the album, “Don’t Be Angry” peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 9 weeks. The follow-up single “I’d Love You to Want Me” failed to chart at all.
During that same year, she released her seventh album, “Fargo Country” which peaked at #11 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The single, “Mockingbird Hill” peaked at #9 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 13 weeks.
The follow-up single from the album, “That Was Yesterday” topped Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart for a week, (staying on the chart for 14 weeks), becoming Donna’s last song to top the chart.
In 1978, Donna released her eighth album “Shame on Me” which peaked at #18 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The first two singles “Shame on Me” (which peaked at #8) and “Do I Love You (Yes in Every Way)” (which peaked at #2) managed to make the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart; the last single released from the album, “Raga Muffin Man” peaked at #19 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart.
During that same year, she released her ninth album, “Dark Eyed Lady” peaked at #20 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The two singles released from the album “Another Goodbye” (which peaked at #10) and “Somebody Special” (which peaked at #6) also made the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart.
In 1978, Donna was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; she experienced a brief illness, but she managed to return to excellent health with medical treatment and the help of her husband. She returned to a more limited schedule in 1979.
In 1979, Donna released her tenth album “Just for You” which became Donna’s first album not to make Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The lead single from the album, “Daddy” (which was a new version of the song Donna recorded back in 1969) peaked at #14 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 13 weeks.
The follow-up singles from the album, “Preacher Berry” (which peaked at #45) and “Walk on By” (which peaked at #43) were moderately successful on Billboard’s Hot Country Albums chart.
In 1980, Donna released her eleventh album, “Fargo” which would become her last album for Warner Bros. Records. The only singles from the album to make Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart were: “Land of Cotton” (which peaked at #63) and “Seeing is Believing” (which peaked at #55).
In 1981, Donna released her twelfth and first gospel music album called “Brotherly Love” on the MCA\Songbird record label; it’s unknown how the album charted at all.
During that same year, she released the singles: “Lone Star Cowboy” (which peaked at #73 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart) and “Jacamo” (which peaked at #72 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart).
In 1983, Donna released her self-titled thirteenth album on RCA Records; the album didn’t not make any album charts at all.
The lead single from the album, “It’s Hard to Be a Dreamer (When I Used to Be the Dream)” peaked at #40 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 3 weeks. The follow-up single “Did We Have to Go This Far (To Say Goodbye)” flopped, peaking at #80 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 4 weeks.
In 1983, Donna released the single “The Sign Of The Times” on Columbia Records which peaked at #72 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 4 weeks.
A year later, she released another single, “My Heart Will Always Belong to You” on the Cleveland International Records label; the song peaked at #80 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 4 weeks.
In 1986, Donna released her last album to date, “Winners” on Mercury Records; the album didn’t not make any album charts at all.
The lead single from the album, “Woman of the ’80s” which peaked at #58 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 8 weeks. The second single, “Me and You” reached the Top 30, peaking at #29 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 17 weeks.
The last single released from the album, “Members Only” (a duet with singer Billy Joe Royal) peaked at #23 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, staying on the chart for 15 weeks.
In 1991, she released the single “Soldier Boy” on the Cleveland International Records label; the song peaked at #71 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, staying on the chart for 2 weeks, making it Donna’s last charting single to date.
By the ’90s, Donna had left the music business and began pursuing other careers outside of music such as writing poetry and establishing a line of greeting cards. In 2008, she released a single CD called “We Can Do Better in America.”
According to research, Donna suffered from a stroke in December of 2017; as of February of this year, she is still recovering from the stroke.
To see a fan-made video for “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “Funny Face,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “Superman,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “You Were Always There,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “Little Girl Gone,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “You Can’t Be a Beacon If Your Light Don’t Shine,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “US of A,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “Hello Little Bluebird,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “That Was Yesterday,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “Do I Love You (Yes in Every Way),” go to:
To see a fan-made video for”Somebody Special,” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “It’s Hard to Be a Dreamer (When I Used to Be the Dream),” go to:
To see a fan-made video for “Members Only” (with Billy Joe Royal), go to:
Collette (born Collette Roberts in 1968 in Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand) is a former pop\dance music singer from the late ’80s\early ’90s.
Her follow-up single “All I Wanna Do Is Dance” which peaked at #12 on the ARIA Singles chart and #12 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart.
In October of 1989, she released her third single “That’s What I Like About You” which peaked at #31 on the ARIA Singles chart.
During that same month, Collette released her debut album, “Raze the Roof” which peaked at #48 on the ARIA Albums chart.
In 1990, she developed a new image of short hair and black clothing in order to be taken more seriously as a singer. In April of that same year, Collette released her sophomore album “Attitude” which peaked at #107 on the ARIA Albums chart.
The lead single from the album “Who Do You Think You Are?” peaked at #56 on the ARIA Singles chart.
Claire Freeland (from Glasgow, Scotland) is a dance music singer from the 2000s.
Despite that, Claire released her debut single, “Free” on her own record label, Statuesque Music. The song managed to peak at #44 on the U.K. Singles chart.
Nikke Nicole (also known as “Nikke? Nicole!”) is a hip-hop\dance music artist from the ’90s. Not much information is given about her, but she was signed to the Love Records label.
Her only charting single was “Nikke Does It Better” which peaked at #73 on the U.K. Singles chart, staying on the chart for only a week.
Marqo was a male R&B singer from the ’90s. Not much information is given about him, but he was signed to the Rasi record label.
In 1994, he released his only album to date, “Smooth And Spicy.” It’s unknown how or if the album ever charted at all or if it made any impact whatsoever.
The Nights were an R&B\funk music band from the ’70s that was led & produced by recording artist\producer H.B. Barnum. The members of the band consisted of Rickey Blain, Anthony Brahumm, Ira Clark, Dennis Hagger, Joey L. Mingo, Vincent Rocto & Anthony Williams.
In 1976, they released their debut and only self-titled album on the ABC Records label. It’s unknown how or if the album made the charts at all.
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