Dawn Sears (December 7, 1961 – December 11, 2014) was one of America’s country music’s finest singers. Gifted with perfect pitch, technique and vocal control, she remains a criminally underappreciated country talent. In addition to her work as a backing vocalist in Vince Gill's band, she recorded four solo studio albums, of which two were released on major labels. She had one single that charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.
A regular gig performing on TNN's "Nashville Now" led to a recording contract with Warner Brothers, who released her debut album, "What a Woman Wants to Hear," in 1991. The album produced two minor singles. It earned favourable reviews, but failed to gain commercial traction. In addition to singing harmony on Gill's 1992 album I Still Believe in You, Sears provided duet vocals on the track "An Out of Control Raging Fire" on Tracy Byrd's 1994 debut album.
Her second album, "Nothin' But Good" was released on Decca in 1994, and its lead-off single, "Runaway Train", entered the country music charts. Other singles from the album were unsuccessful, and Dawn exited Decca's roster not long afterward.
According to information provided by Thomas "Duke" Miller, a TV, movie, and celebrity expert, Sears was also known for her song "Another Dream Away", which became a theme song for the newer "Bandit" movies starring Brian Bloom. The movies were a reissue to cash in on the "Smokey And The Bandit" franchise.
A self-titled album was released independently in 2002, followed by her first Christmas album. Sears returned to her work as a backup vocalist for Gill. She made appearances on several of Gill's albums, including his 2003 album Next Big Thing.
As a longtime member of The Time Jumpers, Mrs. Sears was a leading voice in one of Music City's most popular live acts. Since 1999, they were seen onstage in Nashville nearly every Monday night of the year, starting with a 13-year residency at The Station Inn, then moving to 3rd & Lindsley in 2012. In her final years with The Time Jumpers, the western swing band's profile had never been higher. In 2012, they earned their third and fourth career Grammy nominations, including a nod for country album of the year.
In February 2012, Sears was diagnosed with lung cancer, which was diagnosed as Stage 3B in March 2013. She continued to perform until June of 2014, and was still bringing the room to a whisper with renditions of Hank Cochran's "Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me" and Vern Gosdin's "If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right)." Those audiences often included other country music notables. Larry Gatlin said he was floored the first time he heard Mrs. Sears sing "Sweet Memories," with a voice that was "a cross between Patsy Cline and Barbra Streisand and Sarah Vaughan."
For her last two years Dawn had worked tirelessly raising funds for lung-cancer research including speaking on television talk shows, radio and to the press to highlight the disease and help create a better understanding of the daily battle and challenges that people with cancer of any kind face. In February 2014 she received an Ameripolitan Award for Western Swing Female. Just a month before she died Dawn participated in a fundraiser held in her name in Gallatin, TN that raised over $100,000 for the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
She died in Gallatin, Tennessee on December 11, 2014, aged 53. Dawn Sears is survived by her husband and fellow Time Jumper Kenny Sears and their daughter Tess. “It wasn’t music that brought me to Nashville ” Dawn said, “It was Kenny Sears.”
(Edited from Wikipedia & The Tennessean)