Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper
at home, Nashville, Tennessee, 1974

One of the most successful of many husband-and-wife acts in country music, Wilma Lee and Stoney with their Clinch Mountain Band, played traditional music with a strong hint of old-time gospel and bluegrass. They came up through the "minor" leagues, playing radio stations in Chicago and Wheeling, West Virginia (the popular Wheeling Jamboree on WWVA radio), before landing a job on the Grand Ole Opry in 1957. While Wilma Lee and Stoney had a few hit records in the 1950s and early 1960s, they were mostly live entertainers, traveling widely to spread their music and to make their living. Wilma Lee remained active as a solo act for many years after Stoney's death in 1977.