Country music simply wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for Crystal Gayle, whose indelible mark on the genre includes becoming its first female artist to achieve platinum album sales, scoring 22 chart-topping hits, continuously crossing over to pop, earning a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

Though the Grammy and practically every other award winner’s recording pace has slowed since the steady 1970s and ‘80s streak of “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue,” “Talking In Your Sleep,” “Half The Way” and “You And I” alongside Eddie Rabbit, her latest long player, “You Don’t Know Me: Classic Country,” finally broke a 16-year silence from the studio.

Chicago Concert Reviews received a call from the gracious singer with the lovely floor-length locks, who just so happens to be the sister of fellow legend Loretta Lynn, to hear about those recording inspirations, a continuous concert schedule that brings her to the Des Plaines Theatre on Friday, March 8 and many unbelievable encounters throughout a truly monumental career. 

It’s been awhile since you’ve performed in the Chicago area. Do you happen to recall your last visit or any previous ones?

Crystal Gayle: Though the years, definitely different venues. It has been awhile since I’ve been in that area. I can’t remember exactly where, outer lying areas, not down in the center of town or anything…You know, I was born in Paintsville, Kentucky, but I grew up in Wabash, Indiana, so we traveled up to Chicago for concerts. I saw the Rolling Stones (laughs). This is going way back in high school and was so much fun. A big city.

What do you think a Midwest upbringing meant to your future in music?

Gayle: I grew up singing all different styles of music and I think that was one of the main reasons. Going to school in Indiana, I had a great music teacher. I’d be in swing groups, then I’d be solo, sing with my friend’s rock group and my brother’s country band on the weekends. You know, it’s just music. It didn’t matter which direction. I loved music, so I was gonna try it.

Your latest album focuses on one particular style, “You Don’t Know Me: Classic Country.” What attracted you to those selections?

Gayle: The project came about because I wanted my son Christos [Gatzimos], who actually co-produced, engineered and mixed everything on that particular album, to hear some of the songs that I grew up loving and grew up singing. When I started out my career in the early ‘70s after high school, I opened for Marty Robbins, Jack Greene, Faron Young, all these wonderful icons. It was just an honor to be able to be in their lives a little bit. I look back and the songs definitely mean a lot to me. It’s sort of a musical biography.

This marked your first album in 16 years. What kept you away from the studio and what brought you back?

Gayle: I’ve always been in the studio recording things. I probably have a bunch of things in there, just never released them, which I’m planning on doing. I guess my last label was Warner Brothers, as far as a major label, and it was a different time. There wasn’t this Spotify. It wasn’t all the things you can do and put out there. I thought, “Should I continue on recording?” You’re spending loads of money, but no radio station [support]. It was one of those times where things were changing and you just do a lot of live [dates]. I was so lucky to be able to do my concerts and stay on the road as much as I wanted to without having records out there, new ones, so I really didn’t think about it that much. But I did record, doing all different projects with people.

As you look through your lengthy list of singles, what are the ones you can’t get away without playing in this upcoming show?

Gayle: Of course, “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.” That particular type of song, they don’t come around that often and I’m so glad I got one. They’re timeless. The writer Richard Leigh, he’s just an incredible writer. He wrote my very first number one “I’ll Get Over You” and then comes along a million-selling single (laughs). He’s a great singer too and has had a lot of different cuts through the years. Of course, “Talking In Your Sleep,” “When I Dream.” I love ballads. We have fun and that’s really the most important part.

It’s been said you never get tired of “Brown Eyes.” What’s kept you so inspired?

Gayle: I’m sure I’ve sung it I don’t know how many times (laughs), but definitely I don’t get tired of singing it. Songs that are well written is really the main thing. I’ve recorded songs I love, but some of them are really wordy and there’s too many words. You’re thinking about, “Okay, what’s the next word?” I love things that just sort of flow with the meaning, with the feeling.

Could you share a bit about the process of crossing over from country to pop?

Gayle: “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” is really the song that went over and crossed over. It went number one in “Cashbox” and it was number two in “Billboard.” We weren’t trying to do that. We really just went in the studio with the best songs we could find. It was a unique song that I think just caught on, but it wasn’t like, “Okay, we’re gonna do this. We’re gonna go after this.” But we were liking it did that (laughs).

I was offered so many television specials and shows to be on, I couldn’t do them all. I wish I could have, but I needed two people of me (laughs) to help me go in the directions. I had to turn down things that I didn’t want to. You just can’t do it all. But I was very lucky. I mean I did the Dean Martin specials. I did several of the Bob Hope [specials including] “On The Road To China” and that was incredible.

How might you have paved the way for so many of today’s artists?

Gayle: It’s nice when people tell me they grew up listening to my music or I inspired them. There’s so many great artists out there right now, so many coming and a totally different world with the way things are with the streaming. Everything is like, “Okay, I’m not sure what this is (laughs). Thank you for telling me.” It really is special when people come and say I inspired them to get into the business…

But I think one of the best things for me is all of the letters I would receive through the years telling me how much my music has meant to them in their life where I got through a rough time, whether it’s a break-up, an abusive household. That always made me feel really good that my music was a comfort.

All of this has contributed to you being a member of the Grand Ole Opry. What was it like getting inducted in general and specifically by your sister Loretta Lynn?

Gayle: It’s wonderful to be a part of the family, as I call it. That was incredible. I was so honored that she would come into town. She lived in Hurricane Mills, her ranch. That’s a good hour, hour and 20 minutes from her house, cause she hadn’t been feeling great, and for her to come in and do that was really special.

What do you miss the most about her?

Gayle: I miss my sister. I feel like she’s still with me in so many ways and I talk to her. I think the phone calls, of picking up the phone and calling her. I didn’t get down there as much as I wanted [during] the last time period because of the COVID, so really it was talking and carrying on. We laughed a lot. As I’ve always said, we wanted to rule the world (laughs). We could fix every problem (laughs). And to me, music is healing. Music is so much more than a song.

On a lighter note, having long hair is such a signature part of your look. How do you feel like that has turned you into such a style icon as well?

Gayle: When I started out in the business, I couldn’t fix hair. I couldn’t do anything to it. I could wash it and let it dry. Even my sister would tell me, “Cut your hair. Fix it. Rat it up. Do all these things.” I couldn’t do it and I couldn’t afford anybody to go on the road with me, so it was so much easier, as I said, “Wash it and let it dry.” It just became where I saw someone with hair to their knees and I said, “I’m gonna let my hair grow down there and see if I can.” I’m just lucky. In my family, all the girls could’ve had hair to their knees as well, but they didn’t want to deal with it (laughs).

What are some of the lessons you’ve learned from those early days to now?

Gayle: I think starting out, when I was younger, you took everything so seriously. Everything was just more on the edge and you don’t have to be. Definitely you want to be there on time. You want to start the concert on time. Not everybody (laughs), but I’ve always wanted to. Really it’s be true to yourself. Don’t let someone else tell you what you are and what to sing. You know what you want to do. You know where your heart lies.

Where does your heart lie these days?

Gayle: I am focused on just enjoying my career in the sense of my family, my friends, going into the studio here and there. I just got through doing a song for the Glenn Miller [Orchestra]. They’re doing a project and they asked me, so we did a song for them.

It’s so incredible how your longevity has spanned so many eras and styles. What are some of the collaborations and encounters that amazed you?

Gayle: Well, working with Tom Waits on the soundtrack album on “One From The Heart,” that was a pinch me moment (laughs). He was just so incredible. To me, his music is like movies. You can see the movie in your mind when you listen to his lyrics. Of course, I did “The Muppet Show.” That was iconic to me and singing with Big Bird for Sesame Street (laughs). Those were such fun, wonderful times.

Maybe someone else would say it’s winning the Grammy, or winning this or that, and those are really nice. They’re icing on the cake, but the people that come back to your shows year after year, those are friends that you made through the years. They’re not fans, they’re friends, and to me, I hope that the newer artists are realizing the people that come to the shows, they’re the ones that are gonna come back every time. They’re not just a fad.

Do you have anything remaining on your wish list?

Gayle: Just still being out there performing, hopefully to continue on. I’ll know when it’s time to say, “Okay, I’m gonna put my feet up” (laughs). But I’m enjoying it too. I’ve said friends come out, but I’m making new ones every day. It’s wonderful to see and visit with people.

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Crystal Gayle performs at the Des Plaines Theatre on Friday, March 8. For additional details, visit CrystalGayle.com and DesPlainesTheatre.com.