Bonnie Lou, Rockabilly Singer Who Had Big Hit In '55 With "Daddy-O", R.I.P.

Bonnie Lou, the rockabilly singer who had a big hit in 1955 with "Daddy-O," passed away at a Cincinnati nursing home on Tuesday at age 91.

Born Mary Joan Kath in Towanda, Illinois, she began playing the violin and guitar as a youngster.  By age 16, the future Bonnie Lou was singing and playing on local radio stations in the Midwest.

At 17, Bonnie was signed to a contract to perform on the nationally-broadcast Brush Creek Follies.  On that radio show, she was known as Sally Carson and her group was known as The Rhythm Rangers. She became known for her yodeling.

By the 1940s, "Sally Carson" became known as "Bonnie Lou" and she became a popular radio performer.  She had been featured on a Cincinnati-based radio show that became The Midwestern Hayride.

In the 1950s, Bonnie signed with record companies and scored Top 10 Country and Western hits with "Tennessee Wig Walk" and "Seven Lonely Days."

By the mid '50s, Bonnie was recording rockabilly.  In 1955, her recording of "Daddy-O" reached #14 on Billboard's Pop Charts.

She would go on to become a fixture on local television in Cincinnati.