She released Simple Little Words, her third studio album, in 1979, after signing the contract with United Artists. The national exposure from the performance helped gain her an increase of radio airplay and an increase in record sales, bringing the song to No. 5 on the Billboard Country Chart. In 1979, Lane signed with United Artists Records and performed at the Academy of Country Music Awards, singing "I Just Can't Stay Married to You", and she won the award for Top New Female Vocalist that night. That year, LS released her debut album, Cristy Lane Is the Name, which included all three of the hit singles. Her singles "Shake Me I Rattle" and "Penny Arcade" were top 20 and top 10 hits respectively. Although the exposure was limited, it brought enough attention for the song to peak in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, reaching No. 7. Her next single, titled "Let Me Down Easy", was chosen as the background music for a national news story on a balloon festival. Breakthrough success: 1977–1981 Īfter Stoller continuously promoted Lane's singles, the songs "Tryin' to Forget About You" and "Sweet Deceiver" charted in 1977.
Lane was largely met with indifference from label executives, prompting her husband to form LS Records, his own label, in the mid-1970s. However, by 1972, Lane and her family had moved to a Nashville suburb to attempt once more to get her career off the ground. She and her husband returned to Peoria and opened a pair of nightclubs featuring Lane as the marquee attraction. After her harrowing experiences in Vietnam, Lane lost all hope of a jet-setting music career. In 1969, Stoller organized a 120-show tour of Vietnam which resulted in a helicopter crash, leaving Lane stranded in the midst of a battle. Several early attempts to break into Nashville's country scene ended in disappointment, and Lane was struggling with the pressures of the performing career her husband was urging upon her. Chicago proved to be inspirational, as it was from Chicago DJ Chris Lane that she took her stage name. After a few tentative attempts and several nightclub appearances, she finally landed a guest slot on the Barn Dance radio program on Chicago's WGN in 1968. Her husband heard her singing in the kitchen one day and encouraged her to sing professionally. Married to Lee Stoller before she was 20 years old, Lane had three children by 1964. On January 8, 1940, Cristy Lane was born Eleanor Johnston to a family of twelve in Peoria, Illinois.