I find Julie Rae Jennings most memorable when her story moves beyond the famous name. She worked in her father’s music business, became a Florida disc jockey, farmed, sold produce, and loved cooking. Those details form a life with its own texture, even though her father, Waylon Jennings, remains the family’s towering public figure.
Born on 12 August 1958 in Levelland, Texas, Julie was the second child of Waylon and Maxine Lawrence. She later used the name Julie Rae Jennings-Burdette. Her life ended at 56 in October 2014, leaving a family remembrance shaped by affection, stubbornness, work, and loss.
A Texas Childhood Around a Traveling Father
Julie’s childhood began while Waylon’s music career was still taking shape. He had been born near Littlefield, Texas, on 15 June 1937. Her mother, Maxine, raised the children in Levelland while his work increasingly took him on the road.
I think that contrast helps explain the family setting without pretending to know every domestic detail. The public stage and the family home were different worlds. Julie belonged to both, but most of her ordinary childhood remains undocumented.
She was only about five months old when Buddy Holly died in the plane crash of 3 February 1959. Waylon had given up his seat on the flight. Her brother Buddy Dean, born in 1960, was later named for Holly. Julie herself was not identified as a participant in that tour.
| Event | Date or period |
|---|---|
| Julie born in Levelland | 12 August 1958 |
| Brother Buddy Dean born | 21 March 1960 |
| Waylon marries Jessi Colter | 26 October 1969 |
| Half-brother Shooter born | 19 May 1979 |
| Waylon dies | 13 February 2002 |
| Julie dies at 56 | 3 October 2014 in the stronger public account |
Waylon Jennings and Maxine Lawrence
Waylon became a central figure in outlaw country. His work with Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser on Wanted! The Outlaws helped produce country music’s first platinum-certified album in 1976. He entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
That career is important background, but I would not let it swallow Julie’s biography. Being his daughter did not automatically make her a recording artist or give her a known share of his royalties. Her own professional connection to music was described more modestly: she worked for her father in the business.
Maxine Lawrence, later known as Maxine Hines, was Julie’s mother. Waylon and Maxine’s marriage is generally placed in the mid-1950s, with divorce commonly dated to 1962. Some family dates do not align cleanly with that chronology, so a precise reconstruction remains uncertain.
Maxine died before Julie. Jessi Colter, whom Waylon married in 1969, was Julie’s stepmother rather than her biological mother. Julie was about 11 when that marriage began.
Brothers Sisters and a Blended Household
Julie’s older brother Terry Vance Jennings was born on 21 January 1957. His working life included touring duties around his father’s operation, and he later wrote Waylon: Tales of My Outlaw Dad. He died on 25 January 2019.
Terry’s memories supply the best-known glimpse of Julie’s personality. He recalled a loving sister who wanted the authority of being the oldest, despite being the second child. Her childhood nickname, Froggy, came from Waylon’s teasing description of how her neck looked when she was angry.
I hear affection in that family portrait, though it remains Terry’s recollection rather than Julie speaking for herself. He also remembered their father joking about being afraid to upset her. The image is lively: even a famous outlaw could apparently meet his match at home.
Buddy Dean Jennings was another full sibling. He received a heart transplant in 2019, an event the family publicly discussed. Their sister Deana died in March 2015, only months after Julie.
Tomi Lynne Jennings joined the family through adoption during Waylon’s second marriage. Jennifer, known as Jenni Eddy Jennings, was Jessi Colter’s daughter with Duane Eddy and was raised within the blended family. Julie’s family remembrance counted both women among her sisters.
Shooter Jennings, born Waylon Albright Jennings in 1979, was Julie’s younger half-brother. A musician and producer, he later played his father in Walk the Line. His career belongs to a younger generation of the family, alongside other musicians connected through siblings and their children.
Larry Burdette Taylor and Serenity
Julie married Larry Burdette and was associated with Fort Worth in her later life. A public wedding date and Larry’s occupation are not established. Her family also included stepdaughter Annie Burdette.
Her son, Taylor Jennings, died before she did. His age, death date, and cause of death are not firmly documented in the available public account. Julie was survived by granddaughter Serenity Miller, but the family information does not identify Serenity’s parent.
A son and a granddaughter named in the same family remembrance do not establish a parent-child link between them. The distinction leaves room for what the family chose to disclose.
Radio Farming and Cooking
Julie’s work moved between very different settings. After working around her father’s music business, she became a DJ at WHOG in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Her years at the station and any on-air nickname are not established.
Later, she farmed and sold produce. I like the earthy specificity of that detail: a life associated with country music also involved actual growing and selling. Yet there is no confirmed farm name, crop list, or business revenue to add.
Cooking and family were named among her passions. Neither should be inflated into a restaurant career or a public culinary enterprise. Her financial circumstances, including any inheritance or royalty arrangements, remain unknown.
Remembering Julie in October 2014
The stronger public death account gives Friday, 3 October 2014. Another memorial entry gives 4 October, creating a one-day discrepancy. Cancer has been described in later accounts, but it was not stated in the principal family death notice, so that detail remains qualified.
Her funeral was announced for the Wednesday following her death at Bethel Temple, with arrangements in Fort Worth. She was remembered for working hard and loving intensely, a description that fits the spirited family anecdotes without reducing her to a nickname.
FAQ
Who were Julie Rae Jennings’s parents?
Her parents were country singer Waylon Jennings and his first wife, Maxine Lawrence, later known as Maxine Hines.
Was Julie Rae Jennings a singer?
No established commercial recording career is attached to her. Her documented work included her father’s music business, radio, farming, and produce sales.
Who was Julie’s husband?
She was married to Larry Burdette. Her married name appeared publicly as Julie Rae Jennings-Burdette.
Was Shooter Jennings her son?
No. Shooter was her younger half-brother, the son of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter.
Is Waylon’s song Julie about her?
No established biographical connection links the 1968 fictional murder ballad to his daughter. Julie was nine when that recording was released.
