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Cathy Wurzer

The first singer/songwriter to top the charts

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The singer/songwriter has been a fixture in popular music for a long time, but it wasn't always that way.

Before rock and roll came along, singing and performing were generally considered separate professions.

The first singer/songwriter in the rock era to have a number one hit was Buddy Knox. The song was "Party Doll," which Knox says he wrote behind a haystack on his family's farm in Happy, Texas.