Wilma Lee Cooper
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Wilma Lee Cooper (February 7, 1921 - ) is a Bluegrass-based country music entertainer. Born Wilma Lee Leary in Valley Head, West Virginia, sang in her youth with her family's gospel group, The Leary Family. She later married fiddler/vocalist Stoney Cooper and the duo headed their own bluegrass group, "Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper and the Clinch Mountain Clan". They were regulars for ten years on WWVA's rival program to the Grand Ole Opry Wheeling Jamboree beginning in 1947 before joining the Grand Ole Opry itself in 1957.
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper had remarkable record success in the late 1950's and early 1960's on Hickory Records given both their bluegrass sound (which has rarely been so commercially successful) and the damage rock-n-roll was doing to country's popularity at the time. They scored seven hit records between 1956 and 1961, with four top ten hits in Billboard, notably "Big Midnight Special" and "There's a Big Wheel". Stoney Cooper passed away in 1977 but Wilma Lee remained on the Opry as a solo star and on occasion recorded an album for a bluegrass record label. Cooper remained an Opry favorite and regular performer but in 2001 suffered a stroke while performing on the Opry stage. The stroke ended her performing career, but Cooper defied doctors who said she would never walk again and has since returned to the Opry to greet and thank the crowds.
Cooper's daughter, Carol Lee Cooper, is the lead singer for the Grand Ole Opry's backup vocal group, The Carol Lee Singers.
