Wanda Jackson, the '"Queen of Rockabilly,"' was born in Maud in 1937 and moved to California in 1942, where her father worked as a barber in Bakersfield and taught Jackson how to play the guitar at six years old. From then on, as she was a fast and eager learner, her passion was born from nights of playing guitar with her father.
When the family returned to Oklahoma in 1952, Jackson's talent with the guitar won her the talent show at Capitol Hill High School during her Junior year. The prize included a 15-minute daily show on KLPR every day for a month. Jackson became so popular, she received multiple sponsors and continued her daily show for another two years.
During this time, Hank Thompson, offered Jackson a spot singing with his band in the Trianon Ballroom every Saturday night. Jackson was only sixteen years old. Her career took off when she went on tour with Elvis Presley in 1955 and he influenced her to alter her music style to rock and roll. Afterwards, she recorded "Fujiyama Mama" and "Let's Have a Party," both of which became her most popular songs and earned her two Grammy nominations.
Jackson married Wendell Goodman, a computer programmer. They had two children and celebrated fifty-five years of marriage before his passing in 2017. Jackson still performs and records music, releasing her 31st album in 2012. She was named Oklahoma's 13th Cultural Treasure in 2018.
Want to hear more?
Click below to listen to Wanda Jackson's "Let's Have a Party," released in 1958.