Early years and MTM Records Holly Suzette Dunn was born August 22, 1957. Her parents were a
Church of Christ preacher and a landscape painter. While attending high school, Dunn performed in a band called Freedom Folk Singers, which toured the
Southern United States. She attended
Abilene Christian University and performed in a school-sponsored group called The Hilltoppers. Dunn also wrote songs with her brother,
Chris Waters, who later became a prolific songwriter in
Nashville, Tennessee. One of their collaborations, "Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind", was recorded by
Cristy Lane. After graduating from college, Dunn moved to Nashville, where she worked as a
demo singer before both Waters and she became songwriters at
CBS Records, and then
MTM Records.
Louise Mandrell had a top-10 hit in 1984 with "
I'm Not Through Loving You Yet", which the two co-wrote. peaked at No. 7 on that chart. The song was included on her
self-titled debut, from which it served as the final single. Following this song, she sang guest vocals on
Michael Martin Murphey's Top 5 hit "
A Face in the Crowd", from his album
Americana. She was named the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist in 1986, and then the winner of Country Music Association's Horizon Award in 1987. Her second MTM album,
Cornerstone, produced three straight top-10 hits in "
Love Someone Like Me", "
Only When I Love", and "
Strangers Again". who also sang backing vocals on it. She also became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1989. She also sang on
Kenny Rogers' late 1990 hit "
Maybe", from his album
Something Inside So Strong. Her final Warner Bros. release,
Getting It Dunn, failed to produce a top-40 hit, and she exited the label in 1993.
Retirement and death In 2003, Dunn announced her retirement from her musical career and released her final album,
Full Circle, which was her only gospel album, to devote full-time to her other passion, art. Her paintings deal primarily with subjects from the Southwestern United States. At the time of her death, Dunn was married to Dr. Melissa Taylor. ==Discography==