A spokeswoman for the Grand Ole Opry said Country Music Hall of Fame artist Jean Shepard has died. She was 82.
Spokeswoman Jessie Schmidt said in a news release that Shepard had entered hospice care last week and died Sunday in Nashville.
Shepard joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 1955 and helped set the standard for women in country music. She presented a strong female point of view in songs like "Twice the Lovin' in Half the Time" and "The Root of All Evil (Is a Man)."
Shepard paired with fellow Hall of Fame member Ferlin Husky in 1953 on "A Dear John Letter," her first No. 1 country hit.
She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete.
Kyle Young, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO, released the following statement Sunday:
"Jean Shepard was a country music pioneer who blazed a trail for women in the world of honky-tonk style. From her auspicious musical debut as a member of the Melody Ranch Girls, through her years as a reliable hitmaker for Capitol Records and performer on the Ozark Jubilee and, since 1955, as a stalwart of the cast of the Grand Ole Opry, she built a legacy as a commanding stage presence and champion of women like Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Tammy Wynette, who followed in her footsteps."
