Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Singer Jeannie Seely, who helped transform the image of women in country music, has died. She was 85. Seely died Friday in a hospice in the Nashville area, the Country Music Association said, and her publicist, Don Murray Grubbs told told The Tennessean that she died after an intestinal infection.

The artist was the first woman to host the Grand Ole Opry and she’s appeared on the program more times than any other performer over nearly 60 years.