Jody Miller, Country-Pop Star And ‘Queen Of The House’ Hitmaker, Dies At 80

Jody Miller, the country-pop star best known for her 1965 smash “Queen of the House,” died yesterday morning (7) in Blanchard, Oklahoma from complications related to Parkinson’s Disease. She was 80 years old.

Miller was born Myrna Joy Brooks in Phoenix on November 29, 1941 and grew up in Los Angeles before moving to Blanchard. She appeared on folk luminary Tom Paxton’s television show and signed to Capitol in 1962, releasing her first LP, the folk-flavored Wednesday’s Child Is Full of Woe, the following year. It was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles with the lauded session players known as the Wrecking Crew, including Glen Campbell, Billy Strange, and Jack Marshall.

In February 1964, Miller hit the Hot 100 for the first time with “He Walks Like a Man” and appeared on that chart with three further singles on Capitol, then two for Epic, and logged no fewer than 27 entries on the country bestsellers from 1965 to 1979. Her signature song, a No.12 pop hit and No.5 country favorite, was 1965’s “Queen of the House,” her answer record to Roger (no relation) Miller’s then recently-released “King of the Road.”

Using the melody of the original hit, the single’s new lyric by Mary Taylor described the everyday responsibilities of a mother and wife. It went on to win the Grammy Award for Country Female Vocal and opened Miller up to the country audience, even more so after she signed for Epic and landed Top 10 hits in the early 1970s with “He’s So Fine,” “Baby, I’m Yours,” “There‘s A Party Going On,” “Good News,” and “Darling, You Can Always Come Back Home,” working with noted producer Billy Sherrill.

Her controversial 1965 teen protest anthem “Home of the Brave” was a Top 30 US hit despite being banned by some radio stations. Miller also made multiple appearances on such TV staples as Shindig! and American Bandstand, and later on Hee Haw and Pop! Goes the Country.

Miller’s longtime representative Jennifer McMullen said: “Jody Miller’s talent cannot be overstated. She had this innate, God-given ability to interpret and to communicate with the most beautiful tones and inflection. She made it look and sound so easy that it sometimes takes a moment to realize the greatness of what you are hearing. But she was just as authentic and exceptional in her own life as she was on stage and on record.”

In November 2021, Capitol/UMe released her catalog digitally for the first time, to coincide with her 80th birthday including the 1960s albums Queen of The House, Home of the Brave, The Nashville Sound of Jody Miller, and Best of Jody Miller. Her life and work was also represented in the Grammy Museum exhibit Stronger Together: The Power of Women in Country Music. This was displayed at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and featured video of a TV performance of “Queen of the House.” The exhibit then moved to the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles and will be included in the upcoming touring exhibit.

New 1980s directions

Miller retired from touring in the early 1980s in order to spend time at home with husband Monty Brooks and daughter Robin. She helped to manage Brooks’ thriving quarter horse breeding and training business at their farm in Blanchard. In the early 1990s, Miller began a gospel music ministry, recorded half a dozen gospel albums and was inducted into the International Country Music Hall of Fame.

After Brooks’ death, she began performing with her daughter Robin Brooks Sullivan and her grandchildren Montana and Layla Sullivan, billed as Jody Miller and Three Generations. In 2018, they released the single “Where My Picture Hangs On the Wall,” and in 2021, Miller attended the groundbreaking for a Blanchard Public School Building named for her, the Jody Miller Performing Arts Center. She described the honor as “better than a Grammy.”

As she dealt with the effects of Parkinson’s Disease in recent years, Miller went into the studio a final time in 2020 for the upcoming project Wayfaring Stranger on Heart of Texas Records.