| LeAnn
Rimes,
in 1996 burst out of nowhere with
her debut single, "Blue," which
immediately captured the attention of
country fans across America. It wasn't
just the fact that her rich, powerful
vocals were remarkably similar to Patsy
Cline -- it was the fact that Rimes was
only 13 years old. Like Tanya Tucker and
Brenda Lee before her, she had a hit
with her debut single and was barely a
teenager at the time. It was quite an
auspicious way to begin a career. Born
in Jackson, MS, but raised in Garland,
TX, Rimes (born August 28, 1982) began
singing as a child, performing at local
talent contests. At the age of 11, she
released her first album on an
independent record label called Nor Va
Jak. That same year, Bill Mack, a Dallas
disc jockey and record promoter, met
Rimes, and impressed by her talents, he
took her under his wing and began
cultivating a plan to break her into the
mainstream. The cornerstone of Mack's
plan was a song called "Blue," which he
had written in the '60s. Mack claimed
that he had written the tune for Cline,
but she had died before she was able to
record the song.
Throughout 1995, Rimes' career
continued to gain momentum, as she
performed more than 100 concerts and
appeared on television shows across
Texas. After Mack arranged a record
contract for Rimes with Curb Records,
the label sent out a release with the
single of "Blue" that claimed the DJ had
been waiting over 30 years to find the
right vocalist to sing "Blue." The story
was an exaggeration: "Blue" had been
recorded by no less than three different
artists, including Bill Mack and Kenny
Roberts, who both released versions on
Starday in the '60s, and in 1993,
Kathryn Pitt released the record as a
single in her native Australia.
Nevertheless, the story was repeated
throughout the country and mainstream
music press, adding to the growing myth
that Rimes was the successor to Cline's
tradition. "Blue" and its accompanying
album of the same name became major hits
in the summer of 1996.
Blue debuted at number three on the
pop charts, selling over 123,000 copies
within its first week of release -- the
largest figure to date in the history of
the SoundScan tracking system. Rimes was
nominated for the Country Music
Association Horizon award and the CMA
Best Country Singer, becoming the
youngest singer in the history of the
CMA awards to receive a nomination; she
won neither award. After two quickie
1997 releases -- Unchained Melody: The
Early Years and You Light Up My Life:
Inspirational Songs -- she issued her
second proper LP, Sittin' on Top of the
World, in 1998. Her self-titled third
album followed a year later and I Need
You appeared in early 2001. The next
year, Rimes emerged with a sexy flair
for the pop-oriented Twisted Angel. |
