LeAnn Rimes Biography

From age seven, Rimes used to sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at the Dallas Cowboys games and the National Cutting Horse Championships in Fort Worth. Her parents had recordings of these songs and sold them at the shows. She won ‘Star Search’ (1983) in 1990, at age eight, in the junior vocalist competition. By age 11, she had recorded her first album, ‘All That’ (1993), produced by her father at Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis, New Mexico, on an independent record label, Nor Va Jak. Later that year, Rimes met Bill Mack, a DJ and record promoter from Dallas. He was impressed by the young Rimes and wanted to help her break into the mainstream. His plan was for her to sing ‘Blue’, a song he had written in the 1960s.

Rimes burst out of nowhere, at age 13, with her debut single ‘Blue’ (1996) and captured the attention of country fans across America. Her rich and powerful vocals led people to compare her to Patsy Cline whilst everyone marvelled at how young she was. Her album ‘Blue’ (1996) sold eight million copies and ensured her instant stardom. Rimes performed concerts across Texas and appeared on television shows.

In 1997, the 14-year-old Rimes was voted Best New Artist of 1997 at the Grammy Awards, making her the youngest person to achieve this accolade, and also won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocalist. In addition, that year Rimes wrote her autobiography and played herself in the made-for-television film of the book, ‘Holiday in Your Heart’ (1997). Following two quick album releases, ‘You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs’ (1997) and ‘Unchained Melody: The Early Years’ (1997), Rimes released what many considered her second proper album, ‘Sittin’ On Top of the World’ (1998). Next was her self-titled album, ‘LeAnn Rimes’ (1999) which was a major success.

In May 2000, Rimes filed a lawsuit against her father, Wilbur, and his partner and Rimes’ co-manager, claiming that they stole in excess of $7 million of her earnings. The lawsuit had a negative affect on her career, but Rimes bounced back and eventually made up with her father. Rimes made a cameo appearance as herself in the film ‘Coyote Ugly’ (2000).

In 2001, at age 19, she dated actor Andrew Keegan and released ‘I Need You’ (2001) and ‘God Bless America’ (2001). Whilst recording her next album, the pop sounding ‘Twisted Angel’ (2002), Rimes met dancer Dean Sheremet. The couple announced their engagement on 14th December 2001 at Elton John’s Aids Foundation 'The Concert'. They were married on 23 February 2002 in Dallas, with Rimes’ grandfather walking her down the aisle. The couple live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Turning 21, Rimes released ‘Greatest Hits’ (2003), followed by ‘The Best Of’ (2004) and ‘What a Wonderful World’ (2004). ‘This Woman’ (2005) received mixed reviews but proved to be her best selling album in over five years. She was nominated for Best Country Vocal Performance for the single ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ from the album. In 2005, Rimes was selected to become the new host of the USA Network reality TV series ‘Nashville Star’, a position she held for only one season.

Rimes provided the voice of Kelly Deegan in the television movie ‘Holly Hobbie and Friends: Christmas Wishes’ (2006). She also sang the theme song ‘Twinkle in Her Eye’ for the Holly Hobbie cartoon. The album ‘Whatever We Wanna’ (2006), released in June, was once more a pop-oriented sound, with Rimes having co-written 10 of the 15 songs on the album. Later that year, she performed with other bands in the 2006 Liberty Bowl in Memphis Tennessee. Her next album, ‘Family’, is due to be released in mid 2007. Rimes co-wrote every song on the album, except for one, which was written by her husband.

In addition to tracks honouring her country roots, the album featured songs influenced by pop and rock music, and Rimes even recorded a duet with Bon Jovi entitled 'Til We Ain't Strangers Anymore'.

The 28-year-old announced via Twitter, in May 2010, that her next album, entitled 'Lady and Gentleman', would be a series of covers of classis country songs originally recorded by men.

She has so far released two songs from the album, 'Swingin'', a cover of John Anderson's 1983 Grammy nominated song, and 'Crazy Woman', which she released in November, 2010.

As well as her prolific and commercially successful recording career, Rimes has dipped her toe into the world of acting, and has appeared in several made for TV movies.

It was during the filming of 'Northern Lights', a movie based on a Nora Roberts novel, that Rimes met actor Eddie Cibrian.

The pair embarked on an affair while Rimes was still married to Sheremet and Cibrian was married to his wife of eight years.

In December 2010, Rimes and Cibrian's engagement was announced, and the pair married in a private ceremony at their home in California in April 2011.

Rimes regularly involves herself with worthy causes. These include being the official voice of the Children’s Miracle Network, which is dedicated to raising funds for children’s hospitals and performing at US Army and Air Force bases around the world. Rimes has worked with several animal-friendly organisations and performed to raise funds for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Moving gracefully from child prodigy to star, Rimes has packed an amazing amount of achievements into her life. To date, she has received an American Music Award, two Grammy Awards, three Academy of Country Music Awards and twelve Billboard Music Awards. By the age of 24, Rimes had sold in excess of 37 million albums, making her one of the modern legends in the music industry.