Born 97 Years Ago Today in Oklahoma, the “Queen of the Coast” Who Married Not One, but Two Bakersfield Country Pioneers

On this day (October 1) in 1927, Bonnie Campbell — better known as Bonnie Owens — was born in Blanchard, Oklahoma. She is perhaps best remembered for her marriages to two staples of the Bakersfield country music scene — first Buck Owens, then Merle Haggard. However, Bonnie Owens was an accomplished performer in her own right, reaching the charts with the solo tracks “Why Don’t Daddy Live Here Anymore” (1963) and “Don’t Take Advantage of Me” (1964).

On April 24, 2006, Owens died at age 76 after battling Alzheimer’s disease. Today, we’re honoring her legacy on what would have been her 97th birthday.

Bonnie Owens Only Ever Wanted to Sing

One of eight children born to sharecropper parents in Depression-era Oklahoma, Bonnie Owens’ earliest musical inspiration was her father, Wallace Campbell. He played fiddle, piano, harmonica, and sang, encouraging his children to also nurture their musical talents.

Like many rural families of their time, the Campbells faithfully tuned into the Grand Ole Opry each weekend.

A fan of yodelers like Patsy Montana, Bonnie would often perform for her siblings from atop bales of hay in the family barn, wielding a broomstick like a microphone. From a young age, she told anyone who would listen of her plans to become a singer.

A Brief Marriage to Buck Owens

Eventually, the Campbells settled in Mesa, Arizona. It was there, at 15, that Bonnie met her first husband, Buck Owens. The “Act Naturally” singer had a daily 15-minute show on a local radio station.

When Buck discovered that Bonnie could sing, he helped her get a job with him on another radio show in 1947. They married a year later and had two sons before moving to Bakersfield, California, in the early 1950s. Their union didn’t last long after that, however, and they had separated by 1951.

A Longer Marriage to Merle Haggard

Keeping her ex-husband’s name, Bonnie Owens met Fuzzy Owen and guitarist Roy Nichols while working as a cocktail waitress in Bakersfield. She sang with Owen’s band, the Sun Valley Playboys, and recorded the duet “A Dear John Letter” with him.

By 1964, Owen was managing a young Merle Haggard, with whom he suggested Bonnie record a duet. Their rendition of “Just Between the Two of Us” topped the U.S. country songs chart in 1965 and won them Best Vocal Group honors from the Academy of Country Music.

The duo released a duets album of the same name, which climbed to number four on the country albums chart.

In 1965, Owens also won the ACM’s Female Vocalist of the Year Award. She and Haggard married that same year. From there, Owens spent the next decade touring with Haggard’s band the Strangers as a backup vocalist.

The two divorced in 1978, but Owens continued touring with the Strangers after a brief hiatus.

[RELATED: Without This Woman, Merle Haggard Might Have Never Released Hits Like “Mama Tried” and “Working Man”]

Bonnie Owens’ 1965 solo debut, Don’t Take Advantage of Me, reached number 15 on the country albums chart. She would release three more throughout her lifetime.

Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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