Bobbie Gentry (born July 27 1944) is a singer-songwriter. She was born Roberta Lee Streeter in Greenwood, Chickasaw County, Mississippi. She shot to international fame with the quirky and intriguing Ode To Billie Joe in 1967. After several more albums of increasing ambition and maturity - but failing popularity - she left the music business in the early 1970s to concentrate on business interests.