FAITH HILL — Country Music's Top Female Performer by Kaya Morgan

Faith Hill is one of the great success stories of country music in the last decade. Considered one of the most talented and sexiest performers in country music, she has garnered almost every conceivable industry award in just eight short years — selling more than 25 million records worldwide. Hill has received countless awards from the Country Music Association, the Grammy Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, the People's Choice Awards, the American Music Awards, and the Blockbuster Awards including an appearance as one of the VH1 Divas Live with Tina Turner, Cher and Whitney Houston. As one of the most recognized faces for CoverGirl Cosmetics, she has graced the cover of numerous popular magazines as diverse as Country Weekly, People, TV Guide and Glamour as well as having been the spokesperson for Pepsi.

A true, down-home country girl and native of Jackson, Mississippi, Hill was adopted by hard-working parents and raised alongside her two elder bothers in a middle-class neighborhood. As a young teenager, her first singing experience came while singing in the family's Baptist church. By age 16, she had learned to play guitar and started her own country band, playing anywhere she could from family gatherings and school events to local fairs and rodeos just for the exposure and experience.

Upon graduation from high school in 1986, Hill attended community college before making the big move to Nashville, Tennessee in pursuit of her dreams of a career in the music industry. As fate would have it, she landed a job selling t-shirts and packaging fan merchandise for her idol, country music diva Reba McEntire. This led to a job as a receptionist at a music publishing company where she was caught singing privately while on the job. Convinced by a fellow employee to do a demo of a song, Gary Morris himself heard Faith's rendition and encouraged her to seriously pursue a career in the industry. There's no question she was heading to the right circles.

Landing a job singing harmony as a backup singer at the Bluebird Café, a popular Nashville bar, Faith's professional breakthrough finally came when she was spotted by a talent scout for the Warner Brothers recording label.

Once signed by Warner Brothers Records, it wasn't long before her professional Juggernaut through powerful and energetic songs brought her personal vision and purpose together in an enigmatic way. Her first album, Take Me As I Am, released in 1993, was an immediate success selling over 2 million copies.

Much of 1994 was spent touring as the opening act for some of country's most respected artists — Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, and Brooks & Dunn. With the release of her second album, It Matters To Me, Hill once again soared to the top of the charts with its title single remaining as the top-selling country single for six months.

Then, in the spring of 1996, Hill began a tour with country superstar Tim McGraw dubbed the Spontaneous Combustion tour. At the time, both were involved in other love interests but with destiny in the wings, soon became romantically involved. Their wedding in October of 1996 made them country music's golden couple.

Faith's desire to perform and record songs close to her heart has helped set her on a path exploring new musical and emotional territories that her fans also found touched their soul. Without forgetting the bottom line, Hill has proved to understand the core of the music industry. She has connected to fans who have continued to increase in a true cross-over from country to pop with her recording success of Breathe. Through its breakout success of triple platinum sales in excess of 10 million copies, Hill moved into the unique position of being introduced to the industry's proverbial mainstream, reaching a completely new audience for the second time.

In May 2000, Hill and McGraw launched their second tour together, the Soul 2 Soul Tour. The two have also collaborated in the recording studio including on the Grammy award-winning duet, Let's Make Love. Her newest album, Cry, has already debuted at #1 on both the Billboards and Top Country charts, selling over 2 million copies in the first 8 weeks alone. The 2003 Grammy Awards earned Faith "Best Female Country Vocal Performance," for Cry.

Faith Hill's continued success will depend on the down-home, country values that got her to this pinnacle of success — dedication, passion, focus and her commitment to keeping la vie en rose (life in the pink) — Faith's favorite Edith Piaf expression. She and McGraw live outside Nashville with their three daughters.

You can find more information on Faith Hill at www.faithhill.com