Chicks Of Country

Jessica Andrews

Early Life

Jessica Danielle Andrews was born December 29th, 1983, Huntingdon, Tennessee, United States. She is the youngest daughter of Jessie and Vicki Andrews. Jessica began singing and dancing from a very early age at the family home with her older sister, Kellie. Her ability was first noticed when she was nine when she performed Dolly Parton's 1973 hit song "I Will Always Love You" at her school’s talent show. Andrews was encouraged by her family and friends following the win and started to sing every chance she could and began performing at fairs and carnivals around her hometown. Nashville producer Byron Gallimore, known for his work with Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Jo Dee Messina, was told of the 12 year old Andrews talent and made the two hour drive from Nashville to Huntingdon to see her perform live. Gallimore was so impressed that he invited Andrews to Nashville where he met with her and signed on as her producer. Shortly after Gallimore introduced her to DreamWorks Records Nashville division head James Stroud who signed the pair up to begin work her debut album.

Career Highlights

At the age of 15, Andrews released her debut album, Heart Shaped World, in March 1999. Sensitive to her age, she and Gallimore recorded over fifty songs before settling on the final twelve that appear on the album. The lead single was "I Will Be There for You", which reached #28 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. "I Will Be There for You" was also included on the soundtrack to the 1998 DreamWorks film The Prince of Egypt. The second single "You Go First (Do You Wanna Kiss)" and third, "Unbreakable Heart", both also saw some success in the country charts peaking at # 25 and # 24 respectively. A Fourth single, "I Do Now", was released as the final single from the album but failed to reach Top 40, achieving a peak position of #53 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In May 2000, Andrews was invited to perform her single "Unbreakable Heart" at the Academy of Country Music Awards, where she received a nomination for Top New Female Vocalist, but lost out to Australian Jamie O'Neal. The album itself peaked at #24 on the Top Country Albums charts.

Andrews released her second studio album, Who I Am, in January 2001. The albums lead single and title track, "Who I Am", would prove to be her breakthrough hit. The song became her first and to date only Number One hit on the Billboard Country Charts in addition to peaking at #28 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts. Despite this success the albums second and third singles, "Helplessly, Hopelessly" and "Karma", peaked at #31 and #47, respectively, on the country charts. Andrews spent most of 2001 on tour to promote the album, during which she supported Tim McGraw. The success of "Who I Am" also earned Andrews a Top New Female Vocalist award from the Academy of Country Music, while the album itself received RIAA gold certification for sales of 500,000 copies only four weeks after its release.

Andrews third studio album, Now, was released in April, 2003. The single "There's More to Me Than You" served as its lead-off single, reaching #17 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. "Good Time" was released as the only other single from the album, peaking at #49 on the country charts. The album became Andrew’s second to reach the Top Ten on the Country Albums Chart peaking at #4.

Following the release of Now, Andrews recorded a fourth album, Ain't That Life, for DreamWorks in 2005. Although two of the album's tracks, "The Marrying Kind" and "Summer Girl" were released as singles, the album itself was not following the unexpected closure of the label in mid-2005. In October 2008, Andrews signed with Lyric Street Record’s subsidiary imprint, Carolwood Records. Her first single for her new label, "Everything", was released in November, 2008, peaking at #45 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In March 2009, it was reported that the release of a new album was pushed back. No new release date has yet been set.

Jessica Andrews Discography

Albums

1999 Heart Shaped World | 2001 Who I Am | 2003 Now

Singles

Trivia

In late 2004, Andrews released a duet with Bret Michaels of the rock band Poison, entitled "All I Ever Needed".
She appeared as the opening act for Faith Hill on her 1998 tour while she was only 14.
At the age of seven, she received surgery to remove a piece of bone that was growing through her spinal cord. According to her doctors she had a 50/50 chance of coming out of it paralyzed.
Jessica performed the National Anthem at a Nashville Predators (NHL) game.
She cites Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston as her biggest influences.
Jessica is engaged to fellow country music singer, Marcel Chagnon.

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