Helen Cornelius, the legendary country music singer best known for her hit duets with Jim Ed Brown, has passed away.
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The singer died at 83 on Friday morning, according to a post on her official fan page. No cause of death was given.
Cornelius was born on Dec. 6, 1941, to Joseph and Lu Elsie Johnson. She grew up on a farm in Missouri with her seven siblings, according to her official biography. She began performing music at age 5 and won several talent contests. In 1975, she signed her first major recording contract with RCA Records.
Cornelius gained widespread recognition in the 1970s and 1980s through her duets with Jim Ed Brown. Their hit song, “I Don’t Want to Have to Marry You,” earned the pair the coveted CMA Award for Vocal Duo of the Year in 1977.
Helen Cornelius Scores a Grammy-Nominated Track
Two years after their hit “I Don’t Want to Have to Marry You,” Cornelius and Brown reunited to create the Grammy-nominated track “If the World Ran Out of Love Tonight.”
The duo would occasionally reunite in more recent years to perform together. Brown passed away in 2015.
In 1980, Cornelius started her own band, Southern Spirit. She toured with country stars like Conway Twitty and The Statler Brothers. In 1991, she opened a dinner theater in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where she performed nightly for five years.
“I loved getting to sing different songs each night, take requests, and do such a variety of music,” she recalled, per her biography. “I also loved hiking the mountains and becoming a part of the beautiful Smoky Mountains.”
Inducted into the Missouri Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005, Cornelius continued to tour well into the early 2000s.
Meanwhile, many fans shared stories about Cornelius’s talent and kindness in the comments of her fan page’s death announcement.
“I loved her singing,” one wrote. “It is sad we are losing all of our best country singers.”
“So sorry to hear this. I saw her (with Jim Ed) many times. Always one of my favorite acts!” a second fan added.
“So very sad for her family,’ a third fan wrote. “Loved Helen and her angelic voice and cherished her friendship. Beautiful through and through and had the sweetest heart!”