Martha Marion Sharp

1937 - 2024

Martha Marion Sharp

February 9, 1937 - December 11, 2024

Martha Marion Sharp, a bright light in Nashville's "Country Music" firmament, died at her Nashville home on December 11 after a long illness. She was 87. Her parents were the Rev. Dr. John H. Marion, Jr., and Beatrice V. Marion. Her preparatory education was in Richmond, where she was raised. Her 1958 marriage to Donald Lee Sharp was brief.

Sharp moved to Nashville in the early 1960s, completed her education, and developed a successful career in the music business. Beginning as a secretary, she found she had a talent for song writing. In the mid-1960s she wrote and had recorded about a dozen country music songs. Most famous were "Born a Woman," "Single Girl," and "Come Back When You Grow Up."

In the 1970s Sharp went to work for the artists and repertoire division of Elektra Records, later acquired by Warner Bros. Records. Her stock in the music business grew when she signed two superstars, Randy Travis and Faith Hill, to Warner Bros. contracts, thus launching their careers. When Warner Bros. named her the label's vice president of A&R in 1984, she became the first woman to assume a VP role at a major Music Row label.

At the top of her success, Sharp retired in 1995 and moved back to Richmond. Nashville continued to exert its pull, so Sharp returned in 2013.

Martha Sharp is survived by her two brothers, Hardin Marion, of Lexington, Virginia, and Dave Marion, of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.