Wynonna, Kellie Pickler, Jill Biden, more honor Patsy Cline at Nashville's Ryman

Six decades after her tragic 1963 passing, Patsy Cline's influence, song styling and musical catalog have proven timeless in their legacy.

This was the most significant takeaway from the April 22 television special taping "Walkin' After Midnight: An All-Star Tribute To Patsy Cline," at the Ryman Auditorium.

Alongside multiple performances and appearances by Country Music Hall of Famer Wynonna Judd, critically acclaimed actress and performing artist Rita Wilson, Grammy-nominated Grand Ole Opry members and gospel icons The Issacs, a star-studded who's who of politics, the Broadway stage, silver screen, country's modern radio charts, four decades of musical excellence—and Cline's daughter, Julie Fudge—were represented.

An influential music catalog, celebrated

United States First Lady Dr. Jill Biden kicked off the event by highlighting how, in just over a decade of a sadly abbreviated career, Cline's work represented "a rupture, a shift, a before and after" that continues, in the present day, to "(trace) the contour of our joy and sorrows."

The breadth of her catalog's influence was represented by the night's first two performers, multiple-time Grammy-nominated country artist Mickey Guyton and award-winning Canadian-born and New Zealand-based international country star Tami Neilson, whose confident performances of "Walking After Midnight" and "Two Cigarettes In An Ashtray" showcased how well the event played into the hands of those for whom singing Cline's catalog both informed their musical awakening, fortified their initial careers and has remained a steadfast tentpost of brilliance in the art of recording and live performance.

For actress Beverly D'Angelo, Cline's legacy touched remarkably close to their hearts while also elevating their careers. In 1980, D'Angelo starred as Cline in the Loretta Lynn biopic "Coal Miner's Daughter."

Alongside Spacek's well-received portrayal of the country icon, D'Angelo noted that embodying Cline's "polish" was a career benefit. Insofar as her songcraft—including 1957's "Too Many Secrets," which she performed—she highlighted the breadth of Cline's work, "widening the scope and bridging the gaps between eras" in country music's mainstream.

Notable too, by her inclusion in the event was Mandy Barnett.

Her mid-1990s era work in the musical "Always...Patsy Cline" at the Ryman Auditorium keyed over 500 performances as Cline over two decades, plus a top-10 album-selling Grand Ole Opry membership-level country career.

Stars celebrate the power of timeless artistry

The evening was marked by a crowd that felt delightfully unbothered by the genre's modern conveniences. People who bought records and listened to the radio to hear their life's accomplishments and resolutions to their pain resonant in Cline's voice were present at country music's "Mother Church" to celebrate one of their favorite artists.

A sextet of performances involving world-class, hall-of-fame-level, award-nominated and critically beloved artists showcased how many people still know the feeling of owning a record in both the physical and metaphorical senses.

Pam Tillis, Tigirlily Gold, Wynonna Judd, Ashley McBryde, Kristin Chenoweth and Tiera Kennedy's performances highlighted the ease with which Cline's catalog swept between AM radio, American songbook-style standards, rockabilly, two-step, and Western swing party-starters, plus Broadway, gospel, and jazz stylings.

Judd's takes on "Crazy" and "Sweet Dreams" showcased her legendary control and power over and with her vocals as much as they were reminded how beautiful they both are in conveying honest emotions.

Insofar as Broadway icon Chenoweth, her acoustic guitar-accompanied take on "I Fall To Pieces" felt like an intimate trip into any one of 100 times that she's sung the song to a mirror in a private moment.

Pickler, more, appear

Notable too, were standing ovation-worthy moments including 2006 American Idol competitor and country artist Kellie Pickler returned to the stage for the first time since the Feb. 2023 death of her husband Kyle Jacobs, via a performance of original song "The Woman I Am," a song they co-wrote a decade prior.

As well, gospel star Natalie Grant's piano-accompanied take on "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" and pop legend Pat Benatar saluted who she referred to as "the original bada**" with a rendition (with her husband Neil Giraldo joining the band as a guitarist) of Cline's 1962 classic "Imagine That."

There is no word about when "Walkin' After Midnight: An All-Star Tribute To Patsy Cline" will air.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Wynonna, Kellie Pickler, Jill Biden, more honor Patsy Cline at Nashville's Ryman