Editing Brenda Lee (section)

== Early life and education ==
Brenda Mae Tarpley was born on December 11, 1944<ref name=Dynamite /> in the charity ward of [[Grady Hospital]] in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] to parents Annie Grayce (née Yarbrough; 1921–2006) and Ruben Lindsey Tarpley (1909–1953).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brenda Lee Biography |url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music/brenda-lee-biography |access-date=December 3, 2023 |publisher=PBS |archive-date=December 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203094350/https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music/brenda-lee-biography |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/brenda-lee-b-1944 |title=Brenda Lee (b. 1944) |encyclopedia=New Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=August 17, 2015 |archive-date=May 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526222803/https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/brenda-lee-b-1944 |url-status=live }}</ref> She weighed only 4 pounds 11 ounces at birth. Lee attended primary schools wherever her father found work, mainly between Atlanta and [[Augusta, Georgia|Augusta]]. Her family was poor. Growing up, she shared a bed with her brother and sister in a series of three-room houses without running water. Life centered on her parents finding work, their family and the [[Baptists|Baptist church]], where she began singing solos every Sunday.<ref name=Dynamite /><ref name=IMDB_TV>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456820/|title=Brenda Lee: Little Miss Dynamite|website=IMDb.com|access-date=April 11, 2019|archive-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208052516/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456820/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lee's father was a farmer's son in Georgia's red-clay belt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brenda Lee – The Vogue |url=https://thevogue.com/artists/brenda-lee/ |access-date=December 3, 2023 |language=en |archive-date=December 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203095853/https://thevogue.com/artists/brenda-lee/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Standing 5&nbsp;ft 7&nbsp;in (170&nbsp;cm), he was an excellent left-handed pitcher and played baseball while serving for 11 years in the [[United States Army]]. Her mother came from a [[working class]] family in [[Greene County, Georgia|Greene County]], Georgia.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}

Though her family did not have indoor plumbing until after her father's death, they had a battery-powered table radio that fascinated Brenda as a baby.<ref name=Dynamite /> Both her mother and sister remembered taking her repeatedly to a local candy store before she turned three. One of them would stand her on the counter and she would earn candy or coins for singing.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}