Sweethearts Of The Rodeo

Group Members:

Janis Oliver
Kristine Oliver

Sweethearts of the Rodeo is an American country music duo composed of sisters Janis Oliver (guitar, vocals) and Kristine Oliver (vocals). The duo recorded for Columbia Records between 1986 and 1991, releasing four albums and twelve singles for the label. In the 1990s, they also recorded two albums for Sugar Hill Records. The duo reached Top Ten on the Hot Country Songs charts seven times in the late 1980s, with its highest singles being the #4 hits "Midnight Girl/Sunset Town" and "Chains of Gold," both in 1987.
Janis Oliver was born November 28, 1955, and Kristine Oliver was born March 1, 1957. The two were born and raised in Manhattan Beach, California, where they began singing while in elementary school. They performed as the Oliver Sisters during their teenage years, playing bluegrass music. The duo later renamed itself Sweethearts of the Rodeo, taking the name from The Byrds' album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. After being discovered by Emmylou Harris, Sweethearts of the Rodeo secured slots as opening acts and backing vocalists for other artists. In addition, Janis married Vince Gill, then a member of Pure Prairie League, in 1980, and Kristine married Leonard Arnold of the band Blue Steel.

After the Gills and the Arnolds moved to Tennessee, the sisters began singing together again. They signed to Columbia Records in 1986.
Sweethearts of the Rodeo's first single, "Hey Doll Baby," debuted in April 1986. After it came the duo's first Top Ten hit at #7, "Since I Found You." The song was written by Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd (then recording as Foster & Lloyd), and its success helped that duo secure a record deal of its own. Four more singles followed from Sweethearts of the Rodeo's self-titled debut, including the #4 hits "Midnight Girl/Sunset Town" and "Chains of Gold," which would be their highest-charting singles.

A second album, One Time, One Night, accounted for three more Top Ten hits: "Satisfy You," "Blue to the Bone" and a cover of The Beatles' "I Feel Fine," but its next single, "If I Never See Midnight Again," peaked at #39. Two more albums for Columbia followed (1990's Buffalo Zone and 1992's Sisters, but neither produced any major hits, and Columbia dropped the duo in 1992. Sweethearts of the Rodeo continued to tour in the 1990s, later releasing two albums of bluegrass music on the Sugar Hill label. Janis divorced Gill in 1997.

The duo also owned a clothing store in Franklin, Tennessee called "Gill & Arnold" for a time in the late 1990s that has since closed.

Discography: