{"id":2210,"date":"2026-10-22T14:27:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/?p=2210"},"modified":"2026-10-22T14:27:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:27:05","slug":"for-43-years-janie-price-handed-ray-the-phone-then-the-calls-were-for-her-after-ray-price-died-in-december-2013-steve-popovich-jr-called-his-widow-about-the-album-ray-had-finished-but-would-never","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/?p=2210","title":{"rendered":"For 43 Years, Janie Price Handed Ray the Phone. Then the Calls Were for Her. After Ray Price died in December 2013, Steve Popovich Jr. called his widow about the album Ray had finished but would never be able to promote. Janie Price knew the project. She had spent their marriage helping run his business. What she had never done was sit on his side of an interview. She could arrange a conversation and hand Ray the phone. In the weeks after his funeral, she could not bring herself to leave the house to speak for him. Popovich asked, waited, and asked again. Ray had made Beauty Is\u2026 while being treated for pancreatic cancer. He had chosen a label and worked with producer Fred Foster on a record he expected Janie to carry forward if he could not. She had been his personal business manager since their marriage in 1970, but the work now required her to meet the public herself. One song on the album had waited almost as long as their marriage. For years, Janie had asked Ray to record \u201cAn Affair to Remember.\u201d He liked the song but had never found a place for it on an album. This time Foster agreed it belonged. Ray recorded it with Martina McBride. Janie finally heard the song she had kept bringing to him, on the last record he would make. Beauty Is\u2026 was released in 2014. Janie began giving the interviews she once scheduled for Ray. She also met listeners who wanted to tell her where his voice had been present in their lives. Those encounters did not make the first year without him easier or turn her into a performer. They gave her a particular job to finish. Ray had selected the songs and sung them. Janie made sure the record could travel beyond the studio after he was gone. When people called about his final album, she no longer had a phone to hand across the room. She answered it."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The First Calls<\/h4>\n

The album was ready. Ray Price was not there to introduce it.<\/p>\n

When Steve Popovich Jr. approached Janie after Ray\u2019s funeral, he was asking her to take part in the public work surrounding Beauty Is\u2026<\/em>. She understood exactly what had to happen. For decades, she had attended to Ray\u2019s business behind the scenes. She had arranged calls and interviews, and known when an engagement needed attention. Now the person who would normally take those calls was gone.<\/p>\n

In a 2014 interview, Janie described repeatedly telling Popovich she could not yet leave the house. He gave her time, then called again. The record\u2019s release was approaching whether she felt ready or not.<\/p>\n

Stream Albums<\/p>\n

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A Marriage With a Working Life<\/h4>\n

Janie and Ray married in 1970. Their life together included a long-running business that crossed household and professional lines: tours to arrange, people to speak with, decisions to keep moving. Janie said she had acted as Ray\u2019s personal business manager throughout their marriage.<\/p>\n

That history helps explain why Ray trusted her with his final album. It also explains the size of the change he was asking her to make. Janie was experienced in the work, but had generally done it out of public view. Knowing how to set up an interview did not make it simple to become its subject.<\/p>\n

The Record Ray Had Finished<\/h4>\n

Ray spent part of his final year making Beauty Is\u2026<\/em> with producer Fred Foster. By Janie\u2019s account, he had finished the album and selected a record label. Plans for its release were in place as his cancer advanced.<\/p>\n

A finished recording can wait on a shelf. Getting it heard still takes people answering calls, explaining the work and showing up. Ray had prepared much of that path, but he would not live to walk it. Janie inherited the part that could not be completed in a studio.<\/p>\n

Janie\u2019s Song<\/h4>\n

For more than forty years, Janie had suggested \u201cAn Affair to Remember\u201d to Ray. He had not found an album where he thought it fit. Foster heard a place for it on Beauty Is\u2026<\/em>, and Ray recorded the song with Martina McBride.<\/p>\n

Stream Pop Hits<\/p>\n

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Janie\u2019s long request makes the track different from the other selections. She had lived beside the making of Ray\u2019s records without always getting her own choice onto one. On his final album, she did. The duet was already recorded when she was asked to face the press; there was nothing left for her to persuade Ray to sing.<\/p>\n

Meeting the Listeners<\/h4>\n

Janie began promoting the album in 2014. In interviews, she spoke about Ray\u2019s intentions and the work he had finished. She also encountered fans who approached her with memories of him.<\/p>\n

Ray had understood that listeners would want a connection to the man whose voice they knew. Janie discovered what receiving those stories demanded of her. Behind-the-scenes business management had involved protecting his time and helping him reach people. This work put her directly in their path.<\/p>\n

What Janie Price Really Leaves Behind<\/h4>\n

For years Janie\u2019s part in an interview could end when Ray picked up the receiver. During the release of Beauty Is\u2026<\/em>, the questions stayed with her. She knew the record\u2019s plans, remembered how long she had waited to hear one of its songs, and could tell listeners what Ray had wanted done with it. She learned the public-facing work only when there was no one else in their household to do it<\/p>\n

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The First Calls The album was ready. Ray Price was not there to introduce it. When Steve Popovich Jr. approached Janie after Ray\u2019s funeral, he was asking her to take part in the public work surrounding Beauty Is\u2026. She understood exactly what had to happen. For decades, she had attended to Ray\u2019s business behind the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chua-phan-loai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2210"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2211,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2210\/revisions\/2211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuyenhay360.com.vn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}