Dottie West, born Dorothy Marie Marsh (October 11 1932 in McMinnville, Tennessee - September 4 1991 in Nashville, Tennessee) was a United States country music singer. Dottie West was of country music's most popular female vocalists for over two decades. She began her career in local venues in Cleveland, Ohio in the mid 1950s. She and her husband, guitarist Bill West moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1959 and West began recording and making personal appearances with a number of major stars including Patsy Cline who became her closest friend. It was not until 1963, however, that West's career took off when she signed to RCA Records. She made the top ten twice in 1964, a duet with Jim Reeves titled "Love is No Excuse" and a solo "Here Comes My Baby Back Again" which won her a Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. West would eventually earned 16 Grammy nominations during her career, at one point among the five most nominated women in Grammy history. West remained with RCA through 1975, chalking up such hits as "Paper Mansions" (1967), "Country Girl" (1968), "Country Sunshine" (1973), and "Last Time I Saw Him" (1974). "Country Sunshine" became her theme song and was used in a popular Coca-Cola commercial. She moved to the United Artists Records label in 1976 and shot to new levels of stardom in 1978 with a series of duets with Kenny Rogers that earned them two gold record and multiple awards including the Country Music Association's Duet of the Year award. West's solo work during this period was just as successful and included the number one records "A Lesson in Leavin'" (1980) and "Are You Happy Baby" (1981). In 1981, age 48, Dottie West reached the peak of her career with two number ones including the top 15 pop crossover "What are We Doin' in Love". Her daughter Shelly West also became a country music star during this period. Dottie West's recording career started a downward spiral with the release of 1982's "Full Circle", produced by her one-time protege Larry Gatlin which was poorly received. Her last record, "We Know Better Now", was released in 1985. Mounting debts forced the singer to file for bankruptcy in 1990 but ever the survivor, West vowed to fight her way back to the top which she might well have accomplished had she not been in a car accident in August 1991 which claimed her life the following week. West was portrayed by actress Michele Lee in a tv movie titled .