LeAnn Rimes
Born in 1982, LeAnn Rimes released "Blue" at thirteen in 1996 and became an overnight country sensation with an impossibly mature voice. She won Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1997, becoming the youngest person ever to win those awards. Her 1997 ballad "How Do I Live" spent a record 69 weeks on the Hot 100—Billboard later ranked it the most successful song of the 1990s.
LeAnn Rimes was born on August 28, 1982, in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1996, at just thirteen years old, she released "Blue," a song written in 1958 by Texas DJ Bill Mack. Mack claimed he had waited over thirty years to find the right vocalist for it. Popular lore ties the song to Patsy Cline—according to Mack's account, Cline had been unable to record it before her death in 1963, though the song had already been recorded by other artists. Rimes' rendition showcased a voice with the ache and yodel break of Patsy Cline herself, sounding impossibly mature for her age. The "Blue" album went 6× Platinum in the US and sold over eight million copies worldwide.
At the Grammy Awards in February 1997, the fourteen-year-old Rimes made history by winning Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance—becoming the youngest person ever to claim those awards. Her trajectory seemed unstoppable. In 1997, songwriter Diane Warren wrote "How Do I Live" for the film Con Air, and Rimes was commissioned to record it. Interestingly, the film's producers deemed her voice too pop-sounding and used Trisha Yearwood's throatier version in the movie instead. Both versions were released on the same day, May 23, 1997, and both charted—a historic moment that led to both artists being nominated in the same Grammy category for the same song. Yearwood won Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1998, but Rimes had the last word commercially.
Rimes' version of "How Do I Live" peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and spent a record-breaking 69 weeks on the chart. Billboard later ranked it as the most successful song of the 1990s, and it achieved 4× Platinum status. By 2000, Rimes remained a dominant force bridging country and pop. Her song "Can't Fight the Moonlight" from Coyote Ugly hit No. 11 on the Hot 100 and reached No. 1 in the UK, extending her reign into the new decade. Though her peak commercial moment defined the late 90s, Rimes' early success as a teen artist—combining country authenticity with pop crossover appeal—left an indelible mark on the era.
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