September 8: country music legend Patsy Cline was born on this day in 1932...

... she died on March 5, 1963 at age 30 in a private airplane crash at the height of her career.

Though known as a country music singer, Patsy - born Virginia Patterson Hensley - also achieved success in more mainstream, popular music.

Achieving her success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s Cline is still considered one of the most influential, successful, and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century.

She has been cited as an inspiration by many vocalists of various music genres, and she has been the subject of numerous books, movies, documentaries, articles and stage plays.

Her hits included "Walkin' After Midnight," "I Fall to Pieces," "She's Got You," "Crazy" and "Sweet Dreams." Decades after her death, her record album sales still number in the millions.

Ten years after her death, she became the first female solo artist inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2002, Cline was voted by artists and members of the country music industry as number one on CMT's television special, The 40 Greatest Women of Country Music, and in 1999 she was voted number 11 on VH1's special The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll by members and artists of the rock industry. She was also ranked 46th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of all Time." According to her 1973 Country Music Hall of Fame plaque, "Her heritage of timeless recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity."