Pam Tillis

It ain’t easy being a second-generation artist, especially when your father is as colorful, prolific and beloved as Mel Tillis, the longtime country star known for his charming stutter. But Pam Tillis, possessor of exotic beauty and gregarious personality traits of her own, has managed just fine. After years of struggle to carve her own identity, she became a star in her own right in the early ’90s thanks to a string of hit singles that crossed pop gamesmanship with traditional country sass, including the hilarious “Cleopatra, Queen of Denial” and the forthright “Don’t Tell Me What to Do.” Tillis continues to succeed on her own terms. She released the album It’s All Relative this past September and, at 45, shows no signs of slowing down.