Tucker still enjoys music

ONAMIA -- In a 1975 edition, Rolling Stone magazine featured Tanya Tucker on its cover, a rarity for a country western singer.

Her sweet-but-suggestive pose was accompanied by the caption, "Hi, I'm Tanya Tucker, I'm 15, and You're Gonna Hear from Me!"

Over the next 25 years the country diva made her prediction come true, with 30 hit albums, countless Top 10 hit singles on both the country and pop sales listings, and a 1991 Female Vocalist of the Year award from the Country Music Association.

Now the area's country music fans are gonna hear from Tucker, who will appear in concert at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday at Grand Casino Mille Lacs. She's the latest in a long string of high-profile country stars that have performed at the casino in recent years.

If you go

Who: Tanya Tucker

What: Country singer

Where: Grand Casino Mille Lacs

When: 7 and 9:30 p.m.

Cost: $19 and $26 at the casino or (651) 989-5151

But few have been at the top of their game for as long as Tucker, who first broke into national prominence as a teen phenomenon in the early 1970s. The Texas native released her first hit, the memorable "Delta Dawn," at the age of 13.

"Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood without losing her audience," said one music reviewer writing for the allmusic.com Web site.

"During the course of her career, she notched a remarkable streak of Top 10 and Top 40 hits," the reviewer said.

But it wasn't always an easy trail for this country star who seemed to peak in the 1970s and struggled in the early 1980s before successfully reinventing herself near the end of the decade.

Over the years, however, she has weathered a brief switch to rock and roll and the nasty gossip that surrounded her many romantic adventures and encounters with the country's drug culture.

The ups and downs of her life -- she's called the "country rebel" by some -- are documented in her 1997 best-selling autobiography, "Nickel Dreams."

Her latest musical release, "Complicated," has been greeted with critical acclaim, including Newsweek's judgment that the CD is "breathtaking."

"Music is what I enjoy," Tucker said. "It's constantly a challenge ... and there's always something more you can do, a way to make it bigger and better."

Tickets for her Grand Casino performance, at $19 and $26, are available at the casino or by calling (651) 989-5151.