Tanya Tucker's road to happiness

What a life she has led. She was just a little girl when the spotlight found her, and she's managed to never stray too far from the warmth of its glow.

At 13, her first hit single, Delta Dawn, smashed its way to the top of the country music charts.

And in 1973, at age 15, Tanya Tucker signed one of the most lucrative recording contracts in history and became the first country musician to grace the cover of Rolling Stone.

Today, three-and-a-half decades later, she looks in the rearview mirror of her life's story and sees 39 albums, nine No. 1 singles, two books, more days on the road than Texas has two-steppers and -- most recently -- one reality TV show staring back at her.

So where does all the energy come from?

"It's the only thing I know how to do. And sometimes I wonder about that," says Tucker through a strained, coughing chuckle and a fading voice from a Regina hotel room.

After filming Season 2 of her show Tuckerville for the past six months, Tucker was welcomed back to the world of a touring musician by an illness that forced her to cancel the first three dates of her Canadian tour.

But, God willing, she says, her voice will be back when she steps onto the stage at the Stampede Corral Centre Monday.

Because the last thing she wants to do is let down her fans in a city she says has been so good to her.

"That's why we keep coming back."

But after a life on the road and more shows under her belt than a pot of chili has beans, what keeps her coming back at all?

Well, for Tucker, it's because when she steps out onto the stage and the lights go up, everything else seems to fade away.

"I don't worry about where my Right Guard is, or where my nylons are, or where my patent leather boots are," she says.

"I just want to have a good show."

And though she loves little more than seeing an audience up on its feet "laughin' and kickin' and screamin'," she has her own reasons for wanting to have a good show.

"I want to make myself happy as well."

And making herself happy has been a life-long goal for Tucker.

It even led her to Tuckerville, a reality show she admits she maybe should have asked her kids about before agreeing to.

"Yeah, I probably should have," she says. "But they've been great. They have their ups and owns ... just like the rest of us."

Tuckerville, on TLC, shows the day-to-day life of Tanya and her three children, Grayson, Presley and her "baby," Layla.

"I am very proud of them."

And after a life of being a role model to up-and-coming musicians and mothers alike, Tucker expects her children to embrace the role of mentor as well.

"I say to them, 'people are looking to you,' " says Tucker.

"I want the parents of the world to look at them and say to their kids, 'see, I want you to act like that.' "

But, she adds, "then I have to do it myself, and keep myself in check.

"I tend to be very impulsive," she says, her mood becoming more cheerful as the conversation turns to her children.

"We're pretty comical actually," she laughs, adding she never really knew how funny her family was until she saw them on TV.

"I'm not crazy about watching myself, but when I do watch it I laugh my ass off."

One thing Tucker says her TV show has helped her realize is it turns out she's doing an OK job as a mother.

"A mother never thinks she does well enough ... to hear 'you're a great mother' is better than hearing 'you're a great singer.' "

Calgarians get their chance to see Tanya the mother, Tanya the role model, and -- most importantly -- Tanya the music icon when she plays the Stampede Corral Centre Monday.