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Music legend Patsy Cline was born as Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia. From humble beginnings she rose to become considered as one of country music's greatest vocalists. Tragically, her life was cut short at age 30 when she died in a plane crash.

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Photo: Patsy Cline Museum

Patsy Cline was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame on Oct. 10, 2022.

During her short career, she won numerous awards and was beloved across the country. She was the first solo female singer to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1960. In 1973, 10 years after her death, she became the first female solo artist inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame. And earlier this month, she was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame.

Her music and legacy have endured, and fans can see memorabilia from her life and career at four museums throughout the nation. One of these, the Patsy Cline Historic House in Winchester, is where Cline lived from age 16 to 21. The modest one-bedroom home on S. Kent Street is in a working class neighborhood and has become a site on the national register of historical places.

Watching America host, Dr. Alan Campbell, recently visited Cline’s historic home and spoke with her cousin, Patricia Hensley, and Cline’s daughter, Julie Fudge. Hensley was seven years younger than Cline—or “Ginny” as she was known to friends and family—and remembers growing up and riding horses together.

Fudge was only 4 years old when her mother died, but she became a lifelong champion of her mother’s artistry and legacy. In this interview she shares about keeping her mother’s memory alive through the creation of museums like the Patsy Cline Museum in Nashville, and she discusses memories from her childhood.

Listen to the interview.