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Country star Gretchen Wilson, at 34, finishes high school
05/05/2008 7:00 AM, AP
Country music singer Gretchen Wilson has a mantel full of awards in her Lebanon home. Her first radio single, "Redneck Woman," spent five weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and it earned her a 2005 Grammy. Her debut album sold 4.5 million copies. Despite all her successes, the 34-year-old songwriter was one of 20 percent of Tennesseans without a high school diploma. But no longer. Wilson, who dropped out in ninth grade, passed her General Educational Development exam in April and will don a cap and gown during a May 15 graduation ceremony. Wilson told The Tennessean that her 7-year-old daughter was the big reason to finally finish, saying, "I certainly don't want her to think you can be this successful without an education."
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