LeAnn Rimes began singing at the age of five where she received singing lessons locally and also began performing in musical theatre performances. Not afraid of the limelight, LeAnn Rimes was touring the United States from the age of nine alongside her father, Wilbur C Rimes. After turning 11 LeAnn Rimes began recording music on the label Nor Va Jak and she released three albums between 1991 and 1996.
Discovered by record promoter Bill Mack, LeAnn Rimes recorded his song “Blue” which found the singer her first success after it was released on her debut studio album for Curb Records, “Blue”. This 1996 album shot to the number three spot on the US Billboard charts and the single of the same name was a top 30 hit in the US; it was eventually certified Gold. This release found LeAnn Rimes considerable fame in both the country and mainstream music worlds after she was the youngest person ever to win a Grammy Award in 1997.
In 1997 at the age of 15, LeAnn Rimes released her most successful single to date, “How Do I Live”. The track went to number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified triple platinum. The track broke the record for becoming the longest running single in the Billboard Hot 100 chart’s history after spending 69 weeks on the chart.
One of her most successful albums was “You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs”, which was released in 1997 and charted at number one on the US Billboard charts. The album went on to be certified 4x platinum; only second to her debut album, which was eventually certified 6x platinum.
LeAnn Rimes has toured extensively throughout her career, and has supported acts such as Kenney Chesney, Keith Urban and Luke Bryan. She has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards, two of which she has won.
It's hard to believe that the multi-award winning artist made her break at just 13 years old when she released 'Blue' and is still going strong 17 years later, with a voice as powerful as ever. The journey from a child singing at local talent shows, to an arena sell out artist can't be an easy one for anyone, but the way that she handles it is admirable, and experiencing her genuine sincerity towards the audience is endearing.
Her opening song, 'Swingin' set the tone of fun; uplifting country music sang with control and power. She performed with a live jazz band which was pretty exciting to see, and she would dance up to them and sing around them. Her stamina is fantastic, and watching such a talented performer be able to run around the stage whilst maintaining vocals pretty much identical quality to her recordings, is somewhat a thing of the past, and was refreshing to experience.
Although the venue where we went to see LeAnn was pretty big, and definitely sold out, the way that she addressed the audience was with a personable charm that transgressed the huge theatre, and made each audience member feel like they were watching a really special intimate gig. This was helped by her engagement with everyone, talking between songs, opening up about why and how she'd written the melodies and lyrics, and reaching out to hold fans' hands.