60 Patsy Cline Trivia Questions and Answers

The TriviaTalent Team · 8 min read

Drop a dime in the jukebox, press the button for “Crazy,” and the whole room goes quiet. That warm, aching voice fills the air, and for three minutes nobody says a word. More than sixty years after she sang it, Patsy Cline can still stop a conversation cold.

She came up the hard way, a seamstress’s daughter from a small Virginia town, and she was gone at just 30 — but in the few years she had, she changed country music for good. These 60 questions trace her whole story, from the radio station in Winchester to the night the music stopped over Tennessee. The answer sits right under each question, so you can test yourself or play along with friends.

The Girl from Winchester

1. Patsy Cline was a stage name. What name was she actually born with?

Virginia Patterson Hensley.

2. In which small Virginia city was she born and raised?

Winchester.

3. “Patsy” wasn’t pulled out of thin air. From which of her own names did it come?

Her middle name, Patterson — “Patsy” grew out of it.

4. And the surname “Cline” — where did that come from?

From her first husband, Gerald Cline. She kept the name for the rest of her life.

5. Her mother, Hilda, had a trade that turned out to be handy for a performer. What was it?

She was a seamstress, and she sewed many of Patsy’s stage costumes herself.

6. What was her father’s trade?

He was a blacksmith.

7. As a teenager she began singing on a Winchester radio station, starting around 1948. Do you recall its call letters?

WINC.

8. Before the fame, she worked behind the counter at a local drugstore. What was its name?

Gaunt’s Drug Store, where she worked the soda fountain.

9. In 1952 she auditioned for a local bandleader and joined his group. Who was he?

Bill Peer.

10. Her voice had a rich, low quality for a woman. What name do we give that deep female range?

Contralto.

11. In September 1957 she married the man who would be her husband for the rest of her life. What was his name?

Charlie Dick.

12. She and Charlie had two children. What were their first names?

Julie and Randy.

Making Her Name

13. Her 1957 breakthrough was a song she reportedly didn’t much care for at first. What was it?

“Walkin’ After Midnight.”

14. She first sang that hit to a national audience on a television talent show in January 1957. Which show?

Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, where she took first prize.

15. “Walkin’ After Midnight” climbed to No. 2 on which Billboard chart?

The country chart. It also crossed over, reaching No. 12 on the pop chart.

16. Which record label did she sign with first, back in 1954?

Four Star Records.

17. In January 1960 she became a member of a legendary Nashville radio institution. Which one?

The Grand Ole Opry.

18. In 1960 she signed to the label that would release her biggest hits. Name it.

Decca Records.

19. Which producer shaped the smooth, string-sweetened records she became famous for?

Owen Bradley.

20. Those polished, pop-flavored recordings helped define a whole style of country music. What is it called?

The Nashville Sound.

The Songs We Still Sing

21. In 1961 she scored her first No. 1 country hit, written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard. What was the song?

“I Fall to Pieces.”

22. Which chart did “I Fall to Pieces” top in August 1961?

The Billboard country chart — it was her first song to reach No. 1 there.

23. Also in 1961 came a ballad written by a then-unknown songwriter, and it became her signature. Name the song.

“Crazy.”

24. Who wrote “Crazy”?

Willie Nelson, years before he was a star himself.

25. “Crazy” reached No. 2 on the country chart and No. 9 on which other chart — her only top-10 showing there?

The pop chart, the Billboard Hot 100.

26. Recorded late in 1961, which song became her second No. 1 on the country chart?

“She’s Got You.”

27. By the time she died, roughly how many songs had she recorded?

More than one hundred.

28. What sad distinction do the hits “Sweet Dreams” and “Faded Love” share?

Both climbed the charts after her death — they were released in 1963, the year she died.

29. Which of those posthumous 1963 hits was a tender waltz that reached No. 7 on the country chart?

“Faded Love.”

30. Her records kept crossing over from the country chart onto which other chart?

The pop chart — a rare feat for a country singer of her day.

On the Big Stages

31. In November 1961 she appeared with the Grand Ole Opry at a famous New York concert hall. Which one?

Carnegie Hall.

32. In 1962 she played a 35-day engagement in which desert resort city?

Las Vegas, Nevada.

33. On June 14, 1961, she was badly hurt in an accident that put her in the hospital for about a month. What kind of accident?

A head-on car crash.

34. “Leavin’ On Your Mind,” released only weeks before her death, came out in which year?

1963.

The Night Over Camden

35. On what date did Patsy Cline die?

March 5, 1963.

36. How did she die?

In a small plane crash.

37. The plane went down near the town of Camden, in which state?

Tennessee.

38. How old was she when she died?

Just 30.

39. Two other beloved country stars died in the same crash. Can you name them?

Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins.

40. A fourth man died too — Patsy’s manager, who was flying the plane. Who was he?

Randy Hughes.

41. She had just performed in Kansas City the day before. What kind of show was it?

A benefit concert.

42. The little plane was trying to make it home to which music city?

Nashville.

43. In which Winchester cemetery was she laid to rest?

Shenandoah Memorial Park.

A Legend That Only Grew

44. In 1973, a decade after her death, she became the first solo woman inducted into which hall?

The Country Music Hall of Fame.

45. Which country legend called Patsy a friend and mentor, and released the tribute album I Remember Patsy in 1977?

Loretta Lynn.

46. A 1985 film told her life story, with Jessica Lange in the lead. What was it called?

Sweet Dreams.

47. A stage musical from 1988 carries her name right in the title. What is it?

Always...Patsy Cline.

48. In 1993 the U.S. Postal Service honored her with a collectible in its “Legends” series. What was it?

A postage stamp.

49. In August 1999 she received a star on a famous Los Angeles sidewalk. Which one?

The Hollywood Walk of Fame.

50. “Crazy” became so beloved that it is often called the most-played song in the history of what coin-operated machine?

The jukebox.

51. Two of her recordings were later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Can you name them?

“Crazy” and “I Fall to Pieces.”

52. Her Greatest Hits album holds a Guinness World Record as the longest-charting album by a female what?

Vocalist.

53. That same album earned the RIAA’s top award for ten million copies sold. What is that certification called?

Diamond.

54. Which close friend and fellow singer said she was “most influenced by Patsy Cline”?

Dottie West.

55. In 2011 her restored childhood home in Winchester opened to the public as what?

A museum.

56. On which Winchester street does that childhood home stand?

South Kent Street.

57. Who sewed the glamorous outfits Patsy wore on stage in her early years?

Her mother, Hilda.

58. She began performing professionally in 1948. About how old was she?

Fifteen.

59. Across roughly how many years did her hit-making career run, from “Walkin’ After Midnight” to the end?

Only about six years — from 1957 until her death in 1963.

60. Finally, what one-word song title has come to stand for the whole Patsy Cline legend?

“Crazy.”

Frequently asked questions

How do I play these with a group?

Read a question aloud, let everyone take a guess, then share the answer that sits just below it. If you have her records handy, play a little of each song as you go — the first few bars of “Crazy” will bring the whole room in.

What is Patsy Cline’s most famous song?

“Crazy,” written by a young Willie Nelson and released in 1961, is the one most people name first. It became one of the most-played jukebox songs in American history.

How did Patsy Cline die?

She died in a small plane crash near Camden, Tennessee, on March 5, 1963, at just 30 years old. Country stars Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins and her manager Randy Hughes, who was piloting, died with her.

Where can I find more trivia like this?

Keep the records spinning with our Name That Tune oldies questions and answers, or test your radio memory with our ’60s one-hit wonders trivia.

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