In 1969, before settling in Montgomery, Alabama, the middle child in a family of five kids. She was the one clinging to her guitar like a life raft, navigating her path of chaos by turning to songwriting at the age of 11.

Influenced by the hits that flowed from the musical melting pot of military radio stations playing Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Motown, singer-songwriters, blues, rock and roll and country classics, Beth was always drawn to what made a song stand out. In that regard nothing could ever top the brilliance of Buddy Holly. In 1957, when ‘That’ll Be the Day’ and ‘Peggy Sue’ were smashing the charts, Beth was a one-year-old, but those songs were still blazing across the airwaves when she reached the age of writing her own songs.

Beth’s music has been remarkably diverse, from Prism (2007), on which she sings in nine different languages, to The Mighty Sky (2012), a Grammy-nominated astronomy CD for kids, to other works featuring legendary guests such as Vince Gill, John Prine and Duane Eddy. Her song ‘Sand and Water’ (1997), written in the wake of her husband’s death, was performed by Elton John on tour to honour the memory of his friends Princess Diana and Gianni Versace. In 2016, Beth collaborated with Olivia Newton-John and Amy Sky to create Liv On, an album about coming through grief.

In addition to releasing her own albums, Beth has written other songs, including seven number one hits, for artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Bette Midler, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Michael McDonald, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Keb’ Mo’, Roberta Flack, Waylon Jennings and Indigo Girls. ‘This Kiss’, her mega-hit for Faith Hill, was ASCAP’s 1999 Song of the Year.

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016, Beth, a breast cancer survivor, inspires others to fully blossom into their creative life. She has been a keynote speaker and teacher of workshops on creativity, songwriting, grief, and healing through art at universities internationally, including the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts and the Berklee School of Music. Beth considers it the highest honour to be an ambassador for the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation.