The youngest daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith, Carlene has had a moderately successful recording career, but her many brushes with the law have gained her much notoriety outside of the studio. Still, as a member of one of the most prolific and influential families in music (both Carters and Cashes), she has herself had an impressive string of albums, many produced by British rocker Nick Lowe (who was her husband from 1979 into the mid-80's), then later by boyfriend Howie Epstein (of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers).


While mainstream success has eluded Carlene, she has still managed a tremendous amount of critical success, as with her 1980 release, Musical Shapes and 1990's "I Fell in Love" and the follow ups, Little Love Letters in 1993 and Little Acts of Treason in 1995. She has toured with the Carter Family, sung background vocals for June Carter Cash and The Chieftains, and portrayed her mother in the musical Wildwood Flowers. She participated in the first major all-female country tour group, along with Pam Tillis and Laurie Morgan in 1996. She recently married television personality Joe Brown in Jamaica.