American singer Kitty Wells, whom fans and critics call the first female country music superstar, has died at 92 following a stroke.

Wells rose to the top of the country music charts at a time when nearly every big name in the genre was a man. She was the first female country soloist to sing about such themes as heartbreak and cheating spouses.

Wells' 1952 record of It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels was the first country music recording by a woman to reach number one.

Fans named Wells the top female country music artist from 1953 to 1968. She continued performing into her 80s.