Introduction:
For decades, Jessi Colter was often introduced as Waylon Jennings’ wife. But that description misses the most important part of her story.
Born Mirriam Johnson in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1943, Colter grew up in a deeply religious Pentecostal family. Her mother was a minister, and Jessi became the pianist in her mother’s church at just 11 years old. Music was not simply something she enjoyed—it was part of the foundation of her life.
Her path into professional music began before Waylon. She married guitarist Duane Eddy and toured with him before eventually returning to Arizona after their divorce. In the late 1960s, she met Waylon Jennings, a musician who was already developing a reputation for resisting Nashville’s rigid musical conventions.
They married in October 1969.
Their relationship became part of the story of what would later be known as Outlaw Country. Jennings wanted greater control over what he recorded, who played on his records and how his music sounded. The Country Music Hall of Fame describes his battle for artistic freedom as central to the development of the Outlaw movement.
But Jessi was never merely standing beside him.
In 1975, she released “I’m Not Lisa,” a song she wrote herself. It became her signature recording, reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart and No. 4 on the Hot 100. The following year, she appeared alongside Jennings, Willie Nelson and Tompall Glaser on Wanted! The Outlaws, the first country album certified platinum.
That achievement mattered. Jessi was the only woman among the four principal artists on an album that helped define an era.
Behind the music, however, life was considerably more complicated.
Jennings struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and his excesses eventually took a serious toll. The Country Music Hall of Fame records that his cocaine use became severe enough to damage his career before he confronted his addiction and eventually achieved sobriety.
Colter later discussed the difficult dimensions of their marriage in her memoir, An Outlaw and a Lady. In a Country Music Hall of Fame interview, she reflected on how their relationship affected her faith, Jennings’ spiritual journey and their music.
They remained married until Jennings died on February 13, 2002, from complications related to diabetes. Their son, Shooter Jennings, was born in 1979 and later established his own career in music.
After Jennings’ death, Colter continued to tell her story on her own terms. Her memoir and later musical projects showed that there was much more to her life than being the wife of a country legend.
And perhaps that is the most lasting part of Jessi Colter’s legacy.
She loved Waylon Jennings. She shared his struggles, his music and some of the most turbulent years in country history. But she also wrote her own songs, played her own music and created a career that stood on its own.
More than half a century after she entered the world of Outlaw Country, Jessi Colter remains a reminder that being beside a legend does not mean disappearing behind him.
Sometimes, the woman standing beside the legend is a legend herself.