We, at New England Country Music, are continuing our series spotlighting women in country music. While the acronym WCW, standing for ‘Women Crush Wednesday,’ is often used for physical attraction, that is not the case here. This series will feature talented women who are crushing the country music scene.
This week we are featuring the very talented and extremely successful Faith Hill. Faith was adopted shortly after birth, and given the name Audrey Faith Perry. Her adoptive parents had two biological sons and all three children were raised with strong Christian values in Star, Mississippi. Just before turning nine years old, Faith Hill went to her first concert, Elvis Presley. From then on, she knew what she wanted to do. Throughout her school years, she sang at local churches. As a teenager she formed a band that mainly played at local rodeos. Hill attended a community college for a short time, but decided to leave school when she was nineteen to make the move to Nashville. She soon learned that life in Music City was certainly not all sunshine and roses. Hill auditioned to be a backup singer for Reba McEntire, sold t-shirts, worked as a secretary, and even served burgers and french-fries at McDonalds. Her dreams of becoming a country singer started to take shape after she married Daniel Hill. Though the marriage only lasted six years, it was during this time that she began singing backup vocals for songwriter Gary Burr. While performing at the Bluebird Café one night, Hill was approached by a Warner Bros. Record executive who later signed her to a recording contract.
In 1993, Faith Hill released her debut album, ‘Take Me As I Am.’ It went on to sell three million copies. One of the ten tracks, ‘Wild One,’ held the number one spot on Billboards Country charts for four weeks in a row. This was the first time in thirty years that a female country singer held this number one spot for four consecutive weeks. Two years later, she released her next album, ‘It Matters To Me.’ She created a buzz with singles like, ‘I Can’t Do That Anymore,’ ‘You Can’t Lose Me,’ ‘Someone Else’s Dream,’ and ‘Let’s Go To Vegas,’ Faith Hill released her third studio album, ‘Faith,’ in 1998. It sold more than six million copies. One year later she released ‘Breathe.’ This album won her three Grammy awards: Best Country Album, Best Country Collaboration With Vocals, and Best Country Female Vocal Performance.
In the spring of 1996, Faith Hill played the Spontaneous Combustion Tour with Tim McGraw. The two fell in love and married that fall. They have been blessed with three beautiful daughters. You may ask: what keeps their marriage going strong after almost eighteen years? It may be that they have never been apart for more than three consecutive days! Hill and McGraw dropped their first duet, ‘It’s Your Love,’ in 1997. It stayed at the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for six weeks. The music video won Video of the Year at the 1997 ACM Awards. In 2000, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw joined forces on their first Soul2Soul Tour.
In 2002, she released her fifth album, ‘Cry,’ and in 2005, she released ‘Fireflies.’ She dropped a Christmas Album in 2008 titled ‘Joy to The World.’ Hill and McGraw collaborated on their most recent album, ‘The Rest of Our Life,’ which was released in 2017.
Throughout her musical career, Faith Hill has continued to give back. She created The Faith Hill Family Literacy Project which donated 35,000 children’s books to hospitals, schools, and libraries across the US.
We are excited to see what Faith Hill brings to us in the coming years.
Be sure to download ‘Wild One’ on Apple Music here.
Faith Hill is not currently touring, but you can stay connected by following her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Stay tuned for our next installment of WCW in country music. It is set to hit our page on Wednesday, July 3rd.