Born in California 86 Years Ago Today, “Mrs. Country”—the Singer Who Scored a String of Hits With Her Husband in the 60s and 70s

Country music has a longstanding tradition of married couples who took their romantic chemistry into the studio. Well-known examples include Johnny and June Cash, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, and Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. Johnny and Jonie Mosby never quite reached the same level of fame. However, the couple enjoyed success in the 1960s and 1970s as the duo Johnny and Jonie. Known as “Mr. and Mrs. Country Music”, they landed 17 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Their best-known work included the top 20 hits “Trouble in My Arms” and “Just Hold My Hand”.

Today, we’re exploring the life and career of Jonie Mosby, who turns 86 years old today (August 10).

How Did Johnny and Jonie Mosby Meet?

Born August 10, 1940, in Van Nuys, California, Janice Irene “Jonie” Shields met Johnny Mosby in 1958.

At the time, Mosby was working construction by day and playing Los Angeles venues by night, hoping to get his music career off the ground. Jonie auditioned for his West Coast orchestra, gaining both a job and a husband out of it. They were married by the end of the year.

“Mr. and Mrs. Country Music”

That same year, Johnny and Jonie Mosby began recording for Challenger Records, releasing a version of the Kingston Trio’s “Tijuana Jail”.

The duo’s career took off commercially in 1962 when they signed with Columbia Records, releasing their first top 20 single, “Don’t Call Me from a Honky Tonk,” the following year.

More chart success followed with “Trouble in My Arms” and “Who’s Been Cheatin’ Who” made the Top 30.

Earning the nickname “Mr. and Mrs. Country Music”, Johnny & Jonie experienced their commercial peak during the mid-1960s, with frequent appearances on popular country music TV shows like Louisiana Hayride, Big D Jamboree, and the Grand Ole Opry.

In 1971, Jonie released a minor solo hit with “I’ve Been There”, which hit number 72 on the country charts.

After releasing five albums, the couple’s success had begun to diminish by the early 1970s. They divorced in 1973.

Jonie’s Post-Johnny Career

Two decades later, in 1992, Jonie Mosby Mitchell made headlines in California when she gave birth to a son, Morgan Bradford Mitchell, with her second husband, Donald Mitchell.

At age 52, she was the oldest woman on record to have a baby through in vitro fertilization.

[RELATED: Born on This Day in 1929, One Half of “Mr. And Mrs. Country Music”—the Award-Winning Husband-Wife Duo Who Dominated the 60s]

Johnny Mosby died on February 19, 2018, at age 88.

Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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