‘What Ever Happened to … ?’ 18 Country Artists That Simply Disappeared

"Who I Am" and "Ode to Billie Joe" are songs we all know the words to — we've sung along to them on more than one occasion — they were huge hits! But what ever happened to Jessica Andrews and Bobbie Gentry?

You'll often find us reminiscing over some of our favorite artists who took a break from music, whether to start a family, solely write songs ... or just plain vanish(?!).

Related: The Secret History of Ricky Van Shelton

What happened to Cole Deggs and the Lonesome after "I Got More"?

What's Cyndi Thompson been up to since switching gears from artist to songwriter?

Remember Chad Brock and Restless Heart? What are they up to these days?

"Strawberry Wine" is one of the greatest country songs of all time ... but where's Deana Carter?

Many of these acts are still active, while a few others have simplu retired, only to reappear once a year — or every five years (we see you Cledus T. Judd). Where did Chris Cagle go? Is Barbara Mandrell still making music? Did Ricky Van Shelton die?

Those questions will be answered in this What Ever Happened to ... ?' Country Artists That Kinda Disappeared list. Scroll through to relive the success of some of country's past greats.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he's written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.