Original country outlaw Jessi Colter launched her recording career with the help of husband Waylon Jennings in 1970, with the album A Country Star Is Born. She broke into the mainstream with the 1975 single "I'm Not Lisa," which reached #1 on the country charts and #4 on the pop charts. The following year, she recorded with Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Tompall Glaser as The Outlaws, releasing the first-ever platinum-selling country LP.

Over the next ten years, her career gradually wound down, as she focused on her husband's career and on raising their son Shooter, now a recording star in his own right.

In 2006, she broke a 20-year silence with Out of the Ashes, a brand-new album produced by her friend Don Was.