Gretchen Wilson

Gretchen Renee Wilson (born 26 June, 1973 in Pocahontas, Illinois) is an American country music singer. Her debut album Here for the Party topped the US country charts in 2004 and reached #2 on the Billboard album charts.

Gretchen Renee Wilson (born 26 June, 1973 in Pocahontas, Illinois) is an American country music singer. Her debut album Here for the Party topped the US country charts in 2004 and reached #2 on the Billboard album charts.

She was raised in a trailer park in Pocahontas, Illinois, by a single mother, who was 16 when Wilson was born. Wilson grew up in poverty and moved to a succession of trailer parks as her mother struggled to pay the rent through working as a waitress at a diner. She left school after the eighth grade and was working as a cook and bartender at 14. By 15, she was living on her own. She was singing in two bar bands by the age of 20.