Margo Smith, the beloved, famed country singer who lives in The Villages, appears to have made another remarkable comeback after a brush with death.
Smith, who had been suffering from double pneumonia and other health issues for nearly a week, showed major improvement Friday, said her husband and manager Richard Cammeron.
“She’s still in the ICU, but they took her off the ventilator, and she is able to breathe on her own,” Cammeron said Friday afternoon from the Ocala Regional Medical Center. “Margo was able to sit in a chair. Hopefully, if everything goes well, she will be able to go to a regular hospital room this weekend.” He added if Smith continues to improve, she may be able to return home this month.
Margo, 74, offered these words for her fans, Cammeron said: “Please thank all the people for all their prayers. If not for those prayers, I don’t know if I would still be here.”
Smith was involved in a near-fatal accident in 2014 when a teenage driver ran a red light and hit her car. She would have not survived if she didn’t have a seatbelt on, police said. Smith suffered multiple serious injuries in the accident but made a comeback to sing on stage about a year later.
Margo broke through the national country charts during the 1970s with a couple of No. 1 hits: “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You” and “It Only Hurts for a Little While.” Later in the ‘70s, she had a couple of Top 10 hits, “Take My Breath Away,” “Still A Woman” and “Little Things Mean a Lot.”
One of her trademark songs is, “He Taught Me To Yodel,” and that’s why Margo is called, “The Tennessee Yodeler.”
Margo and Richard often attend Fairway Christian Church in The Villages. She has performed gospel music there with her daughter, Holly, known locally for doing Lexus commercials on Orlando television stations.
Margo Smith is a member of the International Country Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame and has also earned a Canadian Country Music Association Living Legend Award.
