Here are the notable deaths on September 4 throughout the years:

Dottie West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) - An American country music singer, and was one of Country music’s most influential and groundbreaking female artists.  Her career started in the early-60s, with her Top 10 hit, “Here Comes My Baby Back Again,” which won her the first Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1965.  In the 1960s, West was one of the few female Country singers working in what was then a male-dominated industry, influencing other female Country singers to come to fame around that time, like Lynn Anderson, Crystal Gayle, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, and Tammy Wynette.  Throughout the ‘60s, West had major Country hits within the Top 10 and 20.  In the early 1970s, West wrote a popular commercial for the Coca-Cola company, titled “Country Sunshine,” which she nearly brought to the top of the charts in 1973.  In the late-70s, she teamed up with Country-Pop superstar Kenny Rogers for a series of duets, which brought her career in directions it had never gone before, earning Platinum selling albums and No. 1 records for the very first time.  Her duet records with Rogers have now become Country music standards, like “Every Time Two Fools Collide,” “All I Ever Need is You,” and “What are We Doin’ in Love.”  In the early-‘80s, West’s image and music underwent a major metamorphosis, bringing West to the very peak of her popularity as a solo act, and even reaching #1 for the very first time on her own in 1980 with “A Lesson in Leavin.’”  She was one of the most successful, and controversial, performers to rise to popularity during the Nashville sound era; like her friend and mentor Patsy Cline, West’s battles for identity and respect within the male-dominated Country music hierarchy were instrumental in enabling other female artists to gain control over the directions of their careers.  She died as a result of a car accident several days earlier on her way to a performance at the Grand Ole Opry.  Due to problems with her own car, West had asked an 81-year-old neighbor to drive her to the Opry for her scheduled appearance.  Frantic about getting to the Opry on time, she had urged the man to speed.  He lost control of his vehicle while driving 30 miles an hour over the posted speed limit.  The car left the ramp to the Opry car park, vaulted in the air, and hit the central division.  Both occupants were rushed to the Vanderbilt Medical Center in critical condition.  West suffered a ruptured spleen and a lacerated liver.  Her spleen was removed that Friday and, the following Monday, she underwent two more surgeries to stop her liver from bleeding.  During her third operation, West died in surgery at 9:43 a.m.  West’s funeral was held at Christ Church on Old Hickory Boulevard.  There were 600 friends and family attendees, including Emmylou Harris, Connie Smith, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, and Larry Gatlin.  A couple of weeks later, President George H.W. Bush, a longtime fan for whom she had performed at the White House, expressed his condolences at the CMA Awards.  Her hometown of

Here is Dottie performing “A Lesson in Leavin’”: