Jeannie Seely, soulful country singer behind hits like 'Don't Touch Me,'
dies at 85
[August 02, 2025]
By MARIA SHERMAN
NEW YORK (AP) — Jeannie Seely, the soulful country music singer behind
such standards like “Don’t Touch Me,” has died. She was 85.
Her publicist, Don Murry Grubbs, said she died Friday after succumbing
to complications from an intestinal infection.
Known as “Miss Country Soul” for her unique vocal style, Seely was a
trailblazer for women in country music, celebrated for her spirited
nonconformity and for a string of undeniable hits in the ‘60s and ’70s.
Her second husband, Gene Ward, died in December. In May, Seely revealed
that she was in recovery after undergoing multiple back surgeries, two
emergency procedures and spending 11 days in the ICU. She also suffered
a bout of pneumonia.
“Rehab is pretty tough, but each day is looking brighter and last night,
I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. And it was neon, so I knew it
was mine!” she said in a statement at the time. “The unsinkable Seely is
working her way back.”
Dolly Parton was one of several country music luminaries paying her
tribute on Friday, saying she met Seely when they were both young and
starting out in Nashville.
“She was one of my dearest friends,” Parton said on her social media
accounts. “I think she was one of the greater singers in Nashville and
she had a wonderful sense of humor. We had many wonderful laughs
together, cried over certain things together and she will be missed."
Seely was born in July 1940, in Titusville, Pennsylvania, about two
hours north of Pittsburgh and raised in nearby Townville. Her love of
country music was instant; her mother sang, and her father played the
banjo. When she was a child, she sang on local radio programs and
performed on local television. In her early 20s, she moved to Los
Angeles to kick-start a career, taking a job with Liberty and Imperial
Records in Hollywood.
She kept writing and recording. Nashville was next: She sang on Porter
Wagoner's show; she got a deal with Monument Records. Her greatest hit
would arrive soon afterward: “Don’t Touch Me,” the crossover ballad
written by Hank Cochran. The song earned Seely her first and only Grammy
Award, for best country & western vocal performance in the female
category.
Cochran and Seely were married in 1969 and divorced in 1979.
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Jeannie Seely arrives at the 56th Annual CMA Awards in Nashville,
Tenn., on Nov. 9, 2022. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
 Seely broke boundaries in her career
— at a time when country music expected a kind of subservience from
its women performers, Seely was a bit of a rebel, known for wearing
a miniskirt on the Grand Ole Opry stage when it was still taboo.
And she had a number of country hits in the ‘60s and ’70s, including
three Top 10 hits on what is now known as Billboard's hot country
songs chart: “Don't Touch Me,” 1967's “I'll Love You More (Than You
Need)” and 1973's “Can I Sleep In Your Arms?”, adapted from the folk
song “Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister?”
In the years since, Seely continued to release albums, perform, and
host, regularly appearing on country music programming. Her songs
are considered classics, and have been recorded by everyone from
Merle Haggard, Ray Price and Connie Smith to Ernest Tubb, Grandpa
Jones, and Little Jimmy Dickens.
And Seely never stopped working in country music. Since 2018, she's
hosted the weekly “Sunday’s with Seely” on Willie Nelson's Willie’s
Roadhouse SiriusXM channel. That same year, she was inducted into
the Music City Walk of Fame.
She appeared nearly 5,400 times at the Grand Ole Opry, which she has
been a member of since 1967. Grubbs said Saturday's Grand Ole Opry
show would be dedicated to Seely.
She released her latest song in July 2024, a cover of Dottie West's
“Suffertime,” recorded at the world-renowned RCA Studio B. She
performed it at the Opry the year before.
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