Kathy Young (born 21 October 1945, Santa Ana, California) was an American teen pop star.
Young rose to stardom in 1960 at the age of 15, after hearing The Innocents performing on Wink Martindale's TV show. Jim Lee, a record producer at Indigo Records, had The Innocents record with Young, doing a cover version of The Rivileers' 1954 hit, "A Thousand Stars". The song became a hit in the U.S., peaking at #6 on the Black Singles chart, and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] Young's follow-up was "Happy Birthday Blues", which hit #30 on the Hot 100 in 1961.[1] Later singles, such as "Magic Is the Night" and "The Great Pretender", missed the Top 40.
In July 1961, Young joined Brenda Lee, The Shirelles, Bobby Vee, Etta James, Gene McDaniels, The Ventures, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, The Fleetwoods, The Innocents and Jerry Lee Lewis on DJ Alan Freed's new American road show.[2]
In 1962 she followed Lee to Monogram Records, recording solo and with Chris Montez. Her career fizzled out, and she eventually moved to London, where she married John Maus (John Walker) of The Walker Brothers.[3]
