Editing Skeeter Davis (section)

===1963–1976: Crossover and critical accolades===
In 1963, Davis achieved her biggest success with country pop crossover hit "[[The End of the World (Skeeter Davis song)|The End of the World]]".<ref name=pc10>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19758/m1/ |title=Show 10 – Tennessee Firebird: American country music before and after Elvis. [Part 2] }}</ref> The song just missed topping the country and pop charts that year; however, it did top the [[adult contemporary]] charts. The record was also a surprise top-five hit on the [[rhythm and blues]] charts, making Davis one of the few white female singers to have a top-10 hit in that market. The single sold over one million copies and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]].{{sfn|Murrells|1978|p=145}} "The End of the World" soon became Davis's signature song. Davis achieved one other country-pop hit with the [[Gerry Goffin]] and [[Carole King]]-penned "[[I Can't Stay Mad at You]]", which peaked at number seven on the pop charts and number two on the Easy Listening chart in 1963.{{sfn|Whitburn|2002|p=73}} In 1964, she was nominated for a [[Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance]] for her recording of "[[He Says the Same Things to Me]]".<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=Finalists for 1964 Grammy Awards|page=6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6|date=March 20, 1965|volume=77|number=12|issn=0006-2510}}</ref>

Davis's success continued with "[[I'm Saving My Love]]" and 1964's "[[Gonna Get Along Without You Now]]", an updated cover of a 1956 hit by [[Patience and Prudence]]. Both made the top 10 on the country charts and cracked the ''Billboard'' Top 50 pop charts, though the success of "Gonna Get" was likely hampered by another remake of the song by vocalist [[Tracey Dey]] simultaneously climbing the charts to peak slightly lower than Davis's version.  Later pop efforts, such as "Let Me Get Close to You" in July 1964, missed making the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]],{{sfn|Whitburn|2002|p=90}} reflecting the changing nature of pop styles due to the ongoing [[British invasion]]. In 1965, she recorded a duet with [[Bobby Bare]] called "[[A Dear John Letter]]", which just missed the country top 10.{{sfn|Whitburn|2002|p=90}} The following year, she earned her third Grammy nomination for "[[Sun Glasses (song)|Sun Glasses]]", which peaked at number 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/60s/1965/Billboard%201965-10-16.pdf|title=Hot Country Singles|magazine=Billboard|date=October 16, 1965|page=56|volume=77|number=61|issn=0006-2510}}</ref>

In 1967, Davis was back in the top 10 with "[[What Does It Take (To Keep a Man Like You Satisfied)]]". Davis only achieved two other major country hits the rest of the decade, "[[Fuel to the Flame]]" (written by [[Dolly Parton]], to whom Davis paid tribute with an album called ''Skeeter Sings Dolly'' in 1972), and "[[There's a Fool Born Every Minute]]". She received her fourth Grammy nomination for 1967's "What Does It Take".<ref name=grammy>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/skeeter-davis|title=Skeeter Davis|access-date=September 10, 2018|work=Grammy Awards|publisher=[[The Recording Academy]]}}</ref>

In the late 1960s, she recorded several full-length albums, including two tribute works: ''Skeeter Davis Sings [[Buddy Holly]]'' (1967) and ''I Love [[Flatt and Scruggs]]'' (1968).{{sfn|Davis|1993|p=331}} Davis's recording of the [[Anti-war movement|anti-war]] song "[[One Tin Soldier]]", released in 1972, earned her an appearance on ''[[The Midnight Special (TV series)|The Midnight Special]]''.{{sfn|Davis|1993|p=244}} The single was a major success in Canada, peaking as a top-ten hit on ''[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]'' country and adult contemporary charts.<ref>{{cite web|title=Search results for "Skeeter Davis" under Country Singles|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=da0nk2dalrlpbq6hv7561pokn1&q1=skeeter+davis&q2=Country+Singles&interval=20|work=[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140106163933/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=da0nk2dalrlpbq6hv7561pokn1&q1=skeeter+davis&q2=Country+Singles&interval=20|archive-date=January 6, 2014|access-date=September 10, 2018}}</ref>

In 1970, Davis had another top-10 hit with "[[I'm a Lover (Not a Fighter)]]" and another duet with Bobby Bare with "Your Husband, My Wife". The following year, she had a hit with the autobiographical "Bus Fare To Kentucky". Subsequently, however, her chart success began to fade. Singles such as "It's Hard to Be a Woman" and "Love Takes a Lot of My Time" failed to crack the country top 40. Her last major hit was 1973's "I Can't Believe That It's All Over", which peaked at number 12 in country and number 101 on the pop chart. In the 1970s, she began regularly touring foreign countries such as [[Barbados]], [[Singapore]], and [[Sweden]], where she retained a following.{{sfn|Davis|1993|pages=254, 326}}

Davis had the first and only controversy of her career when, during a 1973 Grand Ole Opry performance, she dedicated a gospel song to a group of young church workers whom she noted in her introduction had been arrested for evangelizing at a local mall. The Opry suspended her from membership after receiving complaints from some local policemen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1491190/grand-ole-oprys-skeeter-davis-dead-at-72.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514070111/http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1491190/grand-ole-oprys-skeeter-davis-dead-at-72.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 14, 2011|title=Grand Ole Opry's Skeeter Davis Dead at 72 |date=September 19, 2004|work=[[CMT (U.S. TV channel)|CMT]] News|access-date=August 30, 2018|author=Morris, Edward}}</ref> She was reinstated at the Opry more than a year later.{{sfn|Wolfe|1996|p=144}}{{sfn|Kingsbury|2004|p=138}} After losing several bookings during that period, Davis became active singing with a number of religious ministries and spent an extensive period evangelizing in Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ronstadt-linda.com/skeeterdavis/artcmb75.htm|title=An Interview with Skeeter Davis|publisher=Linda Ronstadt Homepage|language=en|date=January 1975|access-date=18 January 2020}}</ref>