Carol Channing, the lanky, ebullient musical comedy star who delighted American audiences over almost 5,000 performances as the scheming Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly” on Broadway and beyond, has died. She was 97.

Publicist B. Harlan Boll said Channing died of natural causes at 12:31 a.m. Tuesday in Rancho Mirage, California. Boll says she had twice suffered strokes in the last year.

Besides “Hello, Dolly,” Channing starred in other Broadway shows, but none with equal magnetism. She often appeared on television and in nightclubs, for a time partnering with George Burns in Las Vegas and a national tour.

Her outsized personality seemed too much for the screen, and she made only a few movies, notably “The First Traveling Saleslady” with Ginger Rogers and “Thoroughly Modern Millie” with Julie Andrews.

Over the years, Channing continued as Dolly in national tours, the last in 1996, when she was in her 70s. Tom Shales of The Washington Post called her “the ninth wonder of the world.”

Channing was not the immediate choice to play Dolly, a matchmaker who receives her toughest challenge yet when a rich grump seeks a suitable wife. The show, which features a rousing score by Jerry Herman that’s bursting with joy and tunes like “Put On Your Sunday Clothes,” ″Before the Parade Passes By” and “It Only Takes a Moment,” is a musical version of Thornton Wilder’s play “The Matchmaker.”

Theater producer David Merrick told her: “I don’t want that silly grin with all those teeth that go back to your ears.” Even though director Gower Champion had worked on her first Broadway hit, “Lend an Ear,” he had doubts about Channing’s casting.

She wowed them in an audition and was hired on the spot. At opening night on Jan. 16, 1964, when Channing appeared at the top of the stairs in a red gown with feathers in her hair and walked down the red carpet to the Harmonia Gardens restaurant, the casehardened New York audience went crazy. The critics followed suit. “Hello, Dolly” collected 10 Tony Awards, including one for Channing as best actress in a musical.

What makes Mark Willis’ music timeless is he knows that anyone will fall for a good story. He continues to perform songs that set the scene and takes listeners on journeys that span years in seconds; like he does in the Romeo and Juliet setup in the romance that plays out in his 1996 breakout hit, “Jacob’s Ladder”

“I think the art of storytelling was huge back then,” Wills tells CMT of ‘90’s country music. “I think if you get down to it, that’s what country music fans want now. I think they want to get back to great stories.”

Wills also believes his solid storytelling songs such as “I Do (Cherish You),” “19 Somethin’,” and “Back at One” are what got him an invitation to the Grand Ole Opry. He was formally inducted Friday night (Jan. 11) at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

“I am so glad that they waited until this time in my career,” Wills adds. “I think as a young person, I would have been honored to have been an Opry member, but I think as we season in our lives things become more important to us. They become more treasured.

“It was a whirlwind back at the beginning of my career. As I look back on my career, and I look back on the hits that I’ve had, and as I’m embraced by the Opry family by being their newest member, I think it makes me more appreciative of it today than it would have if I were a 24-year-old kid.”

Wills is working on new music that will be released later in the year.

“There is a big influx of ‘90s-inspired music out there, and I do feel honored to have been a big part of that,” Wills says. “So, what I’m looking at doing today is revitalizing that ‘90s country sound with 2019 production.”

Jake Simon Band will be our featured Iowa country artist of the week today, Friday, January 11th on KBOE! Tune in for a live interview, music, and get caught up on what Jake has going on!