Lulu Belle and Scotty were a popular duo during the 1930s credited with helping make country music more popular and accessible to mainstream audiences. Scotty Wiseman also penned songs such as “Remember Me” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” which went on to become country standards. In addition to headlining WLS Chicago’s National Barn Dance for close to two decades, the duo appeared in seven motion pictures, including “Shine On Harvest Moon.”

Lulu was born Myrtle Eleanor Cooper in Boone, North Carolina, December 24, 1913, and got her start on the National Barn Dance when she was 19. There she worked as a cornball comedian à la Minnie Pearl with Red Foley. Later the station teamed her up with Skyland Scotty Wiseman, another North Carolina native, when Foley’s wife began getting jealous of Lulu. It was a good move, as she and Scotty clicked both professionally and personally, and they married in 1934.

Lulu Belle died on February 8, 1999 from Alzheimer’s disease.

Ivan M. Tribe
Century of Country