Tammy Wynette (; born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 - April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of country music's best-known artists and biggest-selling female singers. Wynette was called the "First Lady of Country Music", and her best-known song, "Stand by Your Man", is one of the best-selling hit singles by a woman in the history of country music. Many of her hits dealt with classic themes of loneliness, divorce, and the difficulties of life and relationships. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wynette charted 20 number-one songs.

Wynette had many serious physical ailments beginning in the 1970s. She had at least 26 major surgeries during her lifetime. Although some of these problems were often very serious, Wynette was still able to pursue her singing career and regularly toured to promote her work. In October 1970 after giving birth to Georgette, Wynette had an appendectomy and a hysterectomy. Complications from the hysterectomy included adhesions which later formed into keloids. She developed a chronic inflammation of the bile ducts and was intermittently hospitalized, from 1970 until her death on April 6, 1998. During her brief marriage to Michael Tomlin, she was in hospital for half of their time together as a couple, including surgeries on her gallbladder, kidney and on the nodules on her throat.  Wynette also developed a serious addiction to painkiller medication in the 1980s, which became quite a problem in her life during that time. However, in 1986, she sought help entering the Betty Ford Center for drug treatment that year. In spite of the time away for treatment, she joined the cast of the CBS defunct soap opera Capitol on March 25, 1986, playing the role of a hair stylist-turned-singer, Darlene Stankowski.  Just after Christmas 1993, Wynette woke in the middle of the night with severe pain and was rushed to The Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. She was comatose five days as a result of a bile duct infection. Once she was out of the coma she underwent an intestinal bypass operation. She resumed touring not long afterwards.  Pamela Lansden of People quoted Wynette's personal spin on life's tribulations as "The sad part about happy endings is there's nothing to write about."  Wynette's last concert was given on March 5, 1998, stepping in for Loretta Lynn, who was ill at the time. Wynette's last television appearance was on the TNN series Prime Time Country on March 9, 1998, performing "Stand by Your Man" and "Take Me to Your World". Wynette's last Grand Ole Opry appearance was on May 17, 1997; she performed "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" which was her first top five hit, and "Stand by Your Man" her No. 1 song and signature song, and her first single "Apartment #9" which had gone to No. 44 on the Billboard Country Charts but had become a classic to her loyal fan base and to Country Music. Lorrie Morgan and Jan Howard, appeared on the Opry too, helping Tammy out; Tammy was one of Lorrie's idols growing up (also friends) and Jan, another one of Tammy's close friends, also had a successful career in Country and Western music during the 1960s.

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