Connie SmithFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchConnie Smith Birth name Constance June Meador Also known as The Rolls Royce of Country Music Born August 14, 1941 (1941-08-14) (age 66) Origin Elkhart, Indiana, USA Genre(s) Country, Nashville Sound,Gospel Occupation(s) Singer, Songwriter Years active 1964 -- present Label(s) RCA RecordsColumbia RecordsMonument RecordsEpic RecordsWarner Bros. Records Associatedacts Marty Stuart, Nat Stuckey, Patsy Cline, Jean Shepard, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Jan Howard, Jeannie Seely Website Connie Smith Fansite Connie Smith (born Constance June Meador 14 August 1941, in Elkhart, Indiana) is an American country music singer. She is best known for her 1964 hit song "Once a Day", which spent 8 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Country music charts, the longest of any female country music artist in history. This was Smith's only single to reach the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts.In less than a year, Connie Smith moved from being a small-town Ohio housewife to country stardom with a number one single to her credit. Perhaps overly compared to and identified with Patsy Cline, Smith is still considered by many to be one of the best and most underrated vocalists in country history. Her lonely desperation came straight from the heart, also: Her father was abusive when she was a child, causing Smith to suffer a mental breakdown while she was in her teens. [1]"Once a Day" launched Connie Smith straight to the top of the country music industry and, for a brief period, she was one of the top female stars of the genre during the mid 1960s. Although she never achieved the level of commercial success as some of her contemporaries, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Lynn Anderson and Dolly Parton, she is often hailed by music critics as one of the finest voices in country music, voted in 2001 by fellow artists and members of the Country Music industry as #9 of the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music of all time (CMT).