Shelia Shipley Biddy

Decca Records, MCA/Nashville, RCA Records

Shelia Shipley Biddy was one of the first women to enter the male dominated field of radio promotion and was the first woman to sit at the helm of a major record label in Music City. The Kentucky native, who moved to Nashville to pursue her dream of becoming a broadcast journalist, instead took an entry level job at Monument Records - home to Roy Orbison, Larry Gatlin and Kris Kristofferson. Three years later, she moved to RCA Records where President Joe Galante made her part of the promotion team. After five years, Shelia moved to MCA Records as director of sales and marketing under the leadership of Jimmy Bowen and Bruce Hinton. She was promoted to director of national promotion in 1985 and later named senior vice president. During her tenure, MCA/Nashville was named Country Label of the Year seven times by Billboard magazine and three times by R&R magazine, and the promotion department garnered over 135 #1 singles.

In 1994, Shelia was named senior vice president and general manager of Decca Records a first for a woman in Nashville - with a roster that included Mark Chesnutt, Lee Ann Womack, Gary Allan and others. The label closed in 1999. In 2003, she was named executive vice president, national promotion & artist development for Vivaton Records. When the label suspended operations, John Dorris invited her to join Hallmark Direction Company, whose clientele included Montgomery Gentry and Blake Shelton. In 2011, she returned to radio promotion at Flying Island Entertainment as the director of national promotion. She was voted Gavin's Country Promotion Vice President of the Year on three occasions, and Nashville Life magazine named her one of Nashville's Top 25 Most Influential Women. She was presented with the CRB President's Award in 2009.