Country singer, Las Vegas headliner and former beauty-pageant queen Judy Lynn has died at age 74.

Ms. Lynn recorded more than a dozen albums and had hit singles with such titles as “Footsteps of a Fool” (1962) and “My Secret” (1963). She was also renowned as the most flamboyantly costumed country star of her generation.

Born Judy Lynn Voiten in 1936, she was the daughter of bandleader Joe Voiten. Raised in rural Idaho, she was an authentic cowgirl who could rope and ride at an early age.

She first performed in public at age 10. Blonde and blue-eyed, she was named Queen of the Snake River Jamboree in 1952. The following year, she was crowned America’s Champion Yodeler. She competed as Miss Idaho in the 1955 Miss America contest and finished as a runner-up.

In 1957, she was chosen to co-host the first national Grand Ole Opry network telecast. She also became a frequent guest on Jimmy Dean’s network television show. During her heyday in the 1960s she had her own syndicated TV series.

She signed with ABC-Paramount Records in 1957. Although she had no notable successes with the label, Billboard named her its Most Promising Female Country Singer later that same year. United Artists Records signed Ms. Lynn in 1962. Produced by Pappy Dailey, she had a top-10 hit that year with “Footsteps of a Fool.” She wrote two of her other hits for the label, “My Secret” and “My Father’s House.”

She became a tireless entertainer for the troops, making many USO tours overseas. She also began headlining at The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. She settled in that show-business capital and eventually graduated to starring at Caesar’s Palace. Ms. Lynn appeared with Eddy Arnold, Red Foley, Elvis Presley, Rex Allen, Eddie Fisher, Gene Autry, Ferlin Husky and other top stars of her era.

Her album jackets illustrate her eye-popping visual flair. Ms. Lynn performed in elaborately tooled cowgirl boots in vivid colors to match her skin-tight stretch slacks and figure-hugging blouses. She was clad in electric-blue leather, shimmering purple lamé, green gabardine embellished with shiny gold or silver flowers, rhinestone bedecked crimson polyester or blouses with metallic sleeve fringe, always topped by matching kerchiefs at the throat and highly decorated cowgirl hats atop her gleaming golden tresses.

She moved to Musicor Records in 1966. By then, she had expanded from her Vegas base to also headline in the casinos of Reno and Lake Tahoe.

She was produced by Frank Jones on Columbia Records in 1969, then returned to the charts with Alex Harvey’s song “Married to a Memory” on the independent Amaret label in 1971. Her last charted single was 1975’s “Padre” on Warner Bros. Records.

Ms. Lynn was married to musician Jack Kelly. In 1980, she abruptly quit show business to become an ordained minister.

She died at home of congestive heart failure on Wednesday, May 26. At the time of her passing, she was residing in Jeffersonville, Indiana. She is survived by a daughter and several grandchildren.

Widely beloved radio personality, songwriter and entertainer Charles “Peanut” Faircloth was buried yesterday [Sunday, March 21] in Chattanooga – he died Tuesday, March 16, at age 82.

Born in Mitchell Country, Georgia, he had childhood polio which stunted his growth at 4’8.” This led to his nickname, “Peanut.”

He began his radio career at WNEX in Macon in 1946. While there, he also performed in a trio with future Hall of Fame members Boudleaux & Felice Bryant. His 1948-49 WNEX radio program, The Hoedown Party, was carried nationally via the Mutual Broadcasting System.

Country superstar Ernest Tubb heard him, brought him to Nashville and took him to Decca Records. Faircloth made his initial disc impact with a cover of Moon Mullican’s “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone” in 1950. Other Decca singles included “Mississippi River Blues” and “Coffee, Cigarettes and Tears.”

The broadcaster next moved to WRDV in Augusta, GA in 1951. He began recording for Bibletone Records with gospel singles such as “Pass Me Not.” His Augusta country band was The Hot Roasted Peanuts.

Faircloth wrote “Reindeer Boogie,” which Hank Snow recorded for his 1953 Christmas single. In 1994, Trisha Yearwood included it in her holiday collection The Sweetest Gift. The tune made the country charts in 1999 and led to a Gold Record award.

In 1954, Faircloth went to WLAY in Muscle Shoals, AL. While there, he hosted an early touring show by Elvis Presley. When he returned to Augusta, he brought the youngster’s debut single with him and became the first person in Georgia to broadcast Presley’s music.

In 1955, he began performing with 10-year-old Brenda Lee. Their Saturday-afternoon broadcasts from a downtown record shop named in her honor, stopped traffic in Augusta. When Red Foley’s show came to town in early 1956, Faircloth talked the promoter into letting Brenda sing an opening song. Foley signed her to The Ozark Jubilee that night, which led to her recording contract and, eventually, to superstardom.

Faircloth moved to Chattanooga later in 1956. He became a mainstay of the city’s airwaves at various stations until his radio retirement in 1980. A singer plus a guitar, mandolin, washboard and harmonica player, he later worked for nearly two decades on The Southern Belle, a popular Chattanooga tourist riverboat. He was also the self-described master of the “flush-a-phone,” an instrument he created from a toilet plunger.

He performed for more than 20 years in the regional band Curtis Hicks & His Old Time Strings. In later years, Faircloth became a favorite emcee on the bluegrass-festival circuit.

Charles “Peanut” Faircloth was inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002 and is featured in an exhibit at The Georgia Music Hall of Fame. He was also saluted in Brenda Lee’s 2002 autobiography Little Miss Dynamite.

He is survived by Frances, his wife of 61 years, by four children, 11 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Vanderbilt University professor Richard “Pete” Peterson—one of the first sociologists to seriously study country music—has died at age 77.

During his career, Peterson studied the Nashville music industry, popular culture, the definition of musical genres, the aging of the fine-arts audience and the impact of digital technology on music. In addition, he was a former consultant to National Public Radio.

When he arrived at Vanderbilt in 1965, he realized that the campus was just a few blocks away from the center of Nashville’s music business. So he began a scholarly quest to explore the development of country music.

He befriended artists such as Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Hank Snow and Charley Pride and went on the road with The Oak Ridge Boys when they were still a gospel act.

One of his first studies was of Fan Fair (now known as the CMA Music Festival). After many years of further study and numerous articles and scholarly convention presentations, in 1997 he published Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity (University of Chicago Press). At the time, the late Eddy Arnold said that Peterson, “appreciates the importance of country music and respects how it achieves that importance.”

Peterson passed away on Thursday, February 4. He is survived by his wife, Claire Clark, and three children, Michael, David and Ruth. A campus memorial service is being planned.