Thanks to Richard Thompson, who alerted us to this interview with Wilma Lee Cooper which ran last month on WBIR-TV in Knoxville, TN. At 88 years old, Wilma Lee is no longer active in the music world, particularly following her stroke in 2001, but is living comfortably near Knoxville.
LaSaundra Brown of WBIR spoke with Ms. Cooper and her caregiver, Margaret Akins, for a piece designed to answer the question, “Whatever happened to Wilma Lee Cooper?” It includes a brief overview of her career, and nicely captures the feisty spirit that propelled Cooper to knock down barriers for female artists in country music, allowing for the opportunities that some of today’s ladies in the biz may take for granted.