Susan Kay Bogguss was born in Aledo, Illinois, the youngest of four born to Barbara "B.J." (née Stewart) and Charles "Bud" Bogguss. Charles was an Army officer who served in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II, and later became a machinist who worked at an International Harvester plant at East Moline. B.J. was a secretary-auditor for a Midwest grocery chain. Her grandmothers played piano at theaters. At age 5, she began singing in the Angel Choir of the College Avenue Presbyterian Church in her hometown. With her parents\' encouragement, she took lessons in piano and drums, and as a teenager picked up the guitar as well. In her youth, Bogguss would visit Roy Rogers and Dale Evans at their home in Apple Valley, California, as they attended the same church as her grandparents. She starred in several musicals at Aledo High School, where she was crowned homecoming queen. After graduating in 1975, she enrolled at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, but later transferred to Illinois State University (ISU) in Normal. She graduated from ISU in 1980 with a bachelor\'s degree in metalsmithing. She would later use these skills to design her own jewelry.\n', '

Bogguss later recalled of her interest in music, "Being from a small town, I didn’t realize that somebody had to make this stuff. I was so green. I also knew about Elton John and other big performers, but it never occurred to me that somebody like me from my small town could make a living making music." Having sung and played guitar and drums in local coffeehouses during her college years, Bogguss embarked on a nationwide tour as a folk troubadour after graduating from ISU. At the time, she was drawn to other singers such as Emmylou Harris, James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt. During this time, she produced her first independent album for Old Shack Recording: Suzy. The LP was available for purchase at her shows and is now a rare collector\'s item. In 1984, while touring at the Huntley Lodge resort in Montana, Bogguss discovered that she spent most of her money on clothes for her later shows. She also realized that she had no health insurance, very little car insurance, and low chances of performing further, and there were no talent scouts.\n', '

After moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1985, Bogguss began working at the local Tony Roma\'s restaurant on her first day there. While there, she performed a three-day audition for entertainer Dolly Parton at Silver Dollar City, a theme park which would eventually become Dollywood. The following year, she became the first featured female performer at the park, playing four solo shows at the park\'s train station and appearing in the "Jamboree" show. On performing at the train station, Bogguss later recalled that "I kept thinking, \'I\'m going to get black lung disease [from the coal train in Dollywood].\'" Bogguss said that performing at the park "was the first situation where I knew that every time I introduced a song by a country artist, they knew who the artist\'s mom was, who his or her brothers and sisters were and who he or she was married to." These performances prompted her to make a self-produced demo recording at a studio owned by folk singer Wendy Waldman, who would eventually become Bogguss\'s first producer. Bogguss made several copies and sold them while performing in Dollywood. At the time, she recorded a demo of "Hopeless Romantic", a song written by Doug Crider that would become part of her debut studio album. Crider and Bogguss met each other, and eventually married in November 1986. The demo soon caught the attention of Capitol Records president Jim Foglesong, who offered her a recording contract on the Liberty/Capitol Nashville label.\n', '

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