Lynn Anderson, the country singer best known for her 1970 hit “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” died Thursday night at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after suffering a heart attack, the Tennessean reports. She was 67.
According to the paper, Anderson had been hospitalized for pneumonia after traveling to Italy.
Born in 1947 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Anderson was raised in California by songwriter parents. Her debut single, “For Better of for Worse,” was released in 1966 but failed to crack the charts, though later that year she would score a Top 5 hit with “If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away).”
Anderson would release her signature hit in 1970 after moving to Nashville with “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden,” written by Joe South. The song enjoyed a five-week stay at the top of the country charts and earned Anderson a Grammy Award in the Best Female Country Vocal Performance category. It also crossed over to become a pop hit.
Though her success began to wane as the ’70s wore on, she did score a Top 10 single, “You’re Welcome to Tonight” with Gary Morris, in 1983 and earned another Grammy nomination for the album “Bluegrass Sessions” in 2004.
Anderson, who was married to producer/songwriter Glenn Sutton from 1968 to 1977, is survived by her father, three children, four grandchildren and her partner, Mentor Williams.
Watch Anderson perform her signature song below.
