Faith Hill
Early Life
Audrey Faith Perry was born September 21st, 1967, in Ridgeland, Mississippi, United States. She was adopted when she was only a week old by Ted and Edna Perry. Her adoptive parents reared their two biological sons, Wesley and Steve, along with Hill in a devout Christian home in the town of Star, Mississippi. Hill's vocal talent was apparent from as young as seven when she gave her first public performance at a local youth organization. By the time she was a teenager Hill was a regular performer at local fairs and churches. Faith attended McLaurin High School and she briefly attended college at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi, but quit school to move to Nashville and pursue a career as a country singer when she was 19. While in Nashville, she was asked to auditioned to be a backing singer for Reba McEntire, but missed out on the role and took a job as a secretary at a music publishing firm. Her talent as a singer was soon noticed by her new colleagues who encouraged her to perform as a backing singer to supplement her work as a secretary. During a performance, singing backup vocals for songwriter Gary Burr, at the famous Bluebird Café in Nashville Hill was spotted by a executive from Warner Bros. Records. Shortly after she was signed to the label and began work on her debut album with Burr working as her producer. Career Highlights Hill's debut album, Take Me as I Am, was released in October in 1993. The lead single, "Wild One", was a instant success topping the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart for four consecutive weeks. "Piece of My Heart," a cover of the 1968 song by Big Brother and the Holding Company (featuring Janis Joplin) was released as the albums second single and also reached # 1 on the Country Charts. The third single, "But I Will", failed to break the Top 30, but Hill's fourth release in late 1994, the title track, reached # 2. The album itself peaked at # 7 on the Top Country Albums and # 59 on The Billboard 200 Chart and has been certified 3x Multi-Platinum in the United States for sales of over 3 million copies. The recording of Faith's second album was delayed by surgery to repair a ruptured blood vessel on her vocal cords. It Matters to Me, was eventually released in August 1995 and was another success peaking inside the Top 5 of the Top Country Albums at # 4 and # 29 on The Billboard 200 Chart. The lead single, "Let's Go to Vegas" reached # 5 on The Country Charts but the albums biggest hit was the title track which became her third Number One hit in January 1996. The album produced three more Top Ten hits for Hill during 1996, "Someone Else's Dream" which reached #3, "You Can't Lose Me" #6, and "I Can't Do That Anymore" #8. "You Can't Lose Me" also became her first Number One on the RPM Top Country Tracks charts in Canada. The album has since sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
After the release of It Matters to Me, Hill took a two year break from recording to begin a family with fellow country singer Tim McGraw, who she had met while on tour promoting the album in 1996. Hill did however record a duet with McGraw, "It's Your Love", in 1997. The song stayed at # 1 for six weeks, and won awards from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. Hill returned to the recording studio in late 1997 and released her third album, Faith, in April 1998. The first single, "This Kiss", brought Hill her first solo Top Ten hit on The Billboard Hot 100 reaching # 7 as well as topping the Country Charts, peaking at # 13 on the UK top 40 charts and # 4 on the Australian charts. This success led to a International version being released titled Love Will Always Win. The album produced four more singles "Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me" with McGraw, "Let Me Let Go", "Love Ain't Like That" and "The Secret of Life". More than 6 million copies of the album were sold worldwide. In November 1999 Hill released her fourth and to date most successful album Breathe, which debuted at # 1 on the Billboard Country and Hot 100 Album Charts. The album saw Hill move more towards a pop album than her previous country efforts. The first two singles "Breathe" and "The Way You Love Me" both topped the Country Charts and achieved Top 10 positions on The Hot 100, reaching # 2 and # 6 respectively. The albums third single again saw Hill duet with McGraw on "Let's Make Love" which reached # 6 on the Country Charts before the final release "If My Heart Had Wings" in 2001. The album won Hill three Grammy Awards including Best Country Album, Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for "Let's Make Love" featuring Tim McGraw and Best Country Female Vocal Performance for "Breathe". Breathe has sold almost 10 million copies worldwide Following on from the pop crossover of Breathe, Hill released Cry in 2002. Though the album debuted at # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Country Album charts, the album's singles received much less radio airplay than her previous albums. Five singles were released "Cry", "When the Lights Go Down", "One", "You're Still Here" and "Baby You Belong" but the title track was the only effort to chart in the Country Charts Top 20 at # 12. The album however, did win a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and 3.7 million copies have been sold worldwide.
In 2005, Hill returned with a new country album, Fireflies. The album debuted on top of the Billboard Country and all genre album charts selling 329,000 copies in its first week. The debut single, "Mississippi Girl", reached # 1 for two weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart and peaked at # 29 on the Hot 100. "Mississippi Girl" was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The next three singles "Like We Never Loved at All", "The Lucky One" and "Sunshine and Summertime" all reached the Country Charts Top Ten and the final single "Stealing Kisses" peaked at # 36. "Fireflies" has been certified 2x Multi-Platinum by the RIAA for U.S. sales of 2 million copies. In October 2007 Hill released a Greatest Hits album entitled The Hits. The Hits featured two new songs "Lost" and "Red Umbrella" both of which were released as singles reaching # 32 and # 28 on the Country Charts respectively. Hill also released a Christmas album, Joy To The World, in 2008 which included classics such as "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "Little Drummer Boy". A new album set for release in September 2009. Faith Hill Discography Albums 1993 Take Me as I Am | 1995 It Matters to Me | 1998 Faith | 1999 Breathe | 2002 Cry | 2005 Fireflies Singles 1993 "Wild One" | 1994 "Piece of My Heart", "But I Will", "Take Me as I Am" | 1995 "Let's Go to Vegas", "It Matters to Me" | 1996 "Someone Else's Dream", "You Can't Lose Me", "I Can't Do That Anymore" | 1998 "This Kiss", "Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me", "Let Me Let Go" | 1999 "Love Ain't Like That", "The Secret of Life", "Breathe" | 2000 "The Way You Love Me", "Let's Make Love" | 2001 "If My Heart Had Wings", "There You'll Be" | 2002 "Cry" | 2003 "When the Lights Go Down", "One", "You're Still Here", "Baby You Belong" | 2005 "Mississippi Girl", "Like We Never Loved at All" | 2006 "The Lucky One", "Sunshine and Summertime", "Stealing Kisses" | 2007 "Lost", "Red Umbrella" Trivia Faith Hill Links
All-Pictures.org | Babe Invasion | Bestzilla | Celebrity Link | Chickipedia | Famous Babes | Famous Hookups | Famous Why | Free Ones | Net Glimse | Perfect People | Star Pages | Tera Babes
