Full Text of HR0643 95th General Assembly
HR0643 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives wish to congratulate recording artist Gretchen | 4 |
| Wilson, a native of Pocahontas, on all her success; and
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| WHEREAS, Gretchen Wilson went from obscurity to phenomenon | 6 |
| overnight; her first single, "Redneck Woman," spent six weeks | 7 |
| at #1; her debut album, Here For The Party , sold more than five | 8 |
| million copies; she won across-the-board awards including a | 9 |
| Grammy and Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association, | 10 |
| and American Music Association awards for best female vocalist; | 11 |
| and she has toured around the world promoting her albums; and
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| WHEREAS, Her second album, All Jacked Up , won great reviews | 13 |
| and went to platinum status; over the last three years, she has | 14 |
| been featured on "60 Minutes," "Dateline NBC," "20/20 | 15 |
| Primetime" and CNN's "People In The News," and she has appeared | 16 |
| on virtually every morning and late-night television show; | 17 |
| magazine covers, major news features, and her book, Redneck | 18 |
| Woman: Stories from My Life , have all told her story, with the | 19 |
| book making the prestigious New York Times Best Seller List; | 20 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Gretchen Wilson is a single mother of daughter | 22 |
| Grace, and has property outside
Nashville; she is the head of a |
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| major business enterprise, the focal point of a huge touring | 2 |
| company, and a major modern media star; she came from | 3 |
| Pocahontas, in southern Illinois, where she was born to a | 4 |
| 16-year-old mother; with her father not part of her life, she | 5 |
| got much of her grounding from her grandmother, who introduced | 6 |
| her to the classic country music of Patsy Cline, among others; | 7 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Amid life's uncertainties, trailers, moving to | 9 |
| stay ahead of rent collectors, taking care of her younger | 10 |
| brother, bartending at 14 alongside her mother, Gretchen Wilson | 11 |
| found release in country and rock music; she was on her own by | 12 |
| 15, managing Big O's, a bar outside town, and singing for its | 13 |
| rough-and-tumble patrons; she sang along to CD's for tips until | 14 |
| she was old enough to join a cover band and sing as far down the | 15 |
| interstate as St. Louis; in 1996 she went to Nashville, where | 16 |
| she put her bartending skills to use in Printers' Alley, | 17 |
| sitting in with the band; it was there that John Rich and Big | 18 |
| Kenny, known on the country and western music scene as Big and | 19 |
| Rich, discovered her; She began singing demos and became part | 20 |
| of the fledgling Muzik Mafia, singing on Tuesday nights in | 21 |
| ever-bigger clubs and pitching herself to record labels; and
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| WHEREAS, Along with John Rich, she wrote her first single | 23 |
| "Redneck Woman" and the rest is history; beyond her career and | 24 |
| family, Gretchen has maintained an active charitable role, |
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| performing recently in clubs and small theaters to raise money | 2 |
| for organizations like St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | 3 |
| and Children's Miracle Network; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 6 |
| congratulate Gretchen Wilson on her success and wish her | 7 |
| continued good fortune in the future; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 9 |
| presented to Gretchen Wilson as a symbol of our respect and | 10 |
| admiration.
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