Redneck diva Gretchen Wilson testifies before Congress about education

May 1, 1:28 AMCountry Music ExaminerLisa L. Rollins

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Grammy-winning Gretchen Wilson at her GED graduation.

My what a difference a year can make, as demonstrated by country music's favorite redneck diva, Gretchen Wilson, who will testify before Congress on May 5, 2009, about the importance of education that targets adult learners.

It was only last year--specifically, during a May 15 ceremony--that Wilson, then 34, earned her General Educational Development diploma to demonstrate to daughter Grace, now a second-grader, that it was important to get a proper education--even if one already has millions in record sales and a Grammy on the mantle in the paid-for double-wide, if you will.

The Illinois-born Wilson, who now makes her home in Lebanon, Tenn., told The Tennessean newspaper last spring that she originally dropped out of school in ninth grade, because of "family problems."

However, when another of Wilson's family members began to study for the equivalency diploma after learning he was going to come up short when it came to having enough credits to graduate high school, the hit singer-songwriter opted to begin studying to take the GED, too.

“I certainly don’t want her to think you can be this successful without an education,” Wilson said at the time, referring to her only child.

In turn, in April 2008 the country star, whose first radio single, “Redneck Woman,” spent five weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and earned her a 2005 country music  Grammy Award, wound up becoming not only the first in her family to get a record deal and earn platinum record sales, but also the first in her family to complete her high-school education. In the process, she eliminated herself from the ranks of Tennessee's estimated 20 percent who don't have a high-school diploma.

Gretchen Wilson's "Here for the Party" music video.