| welcome |
| American Beauty is dedicated to being one
of, if not the friendliest fansites on the net, and to
bringing you the best content we can offer.
We refuse to engage in competition with other fansites, in
or out of our genre, and hope we can add to the many wonderful
fansites that make up Faith's presence on the web.
We have a strict no stalkarazzi policy and respect Faith's
privacy, as well as the privacy of her friends and family. |
| faith hill's chat |
|
|
|
|
|
| Faith Hill's Biography |
Audrey Faith Perry McGraw, best known as Faith Hill (born
September 21, 1967 in Jackson, Mississippi), is an American
country singer, known for her commercial success as well as her
marriage to country singer Tim McGraw.
Early life
Hill was born Audrey Faith Perry in Jackson, Mississippi, but
raised in the nearby town of Star. She began singing at a very
early age and, after briefly attending college, moved to
Nashville to attempt a singing career. Her parents were
discouraging Faith to go, but she knew if she wanted to pursue
her singing dream, she would have to start somewhere. In her
early days in Nashville, Hill first found a small apartment, and
went literally from door to door looking for a job. Finally she
found a job as a secretary that sold merchandise for famous
country stars. She also traveled and sang with a Southern Gospel
group called The Steeles.
Hill is adopted and met her biological mother in the early
1990s. She was married to a music executive named Dan Hill from
1988 to 1994.
Faith Hill's voice caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records
executives, who eagerly gave her a record deal. Shortly after
being signed to Warner Bros., Hill was given the opportunity to
open for fellow country superstar Tim McGraw. They married in
1996 and currently have three daughters together.
1993 – 1997: Country success
Hill's debut album was Take Me as I Am (1993); sales
were strong, buoyed by the chart success of "Wild One". A
version of Erma Franklin's "Piece of My Heart", also went to the
top of the country charts in 1994, although rock fans drew
unflattering comparisons to Janis Joplin's cover. The recording
of Faith's second album was delayed by surgery on her vocal
cords. It Matters to Me finally appeared in 1995 and was another
success, with the title track becoming her fourth #1 country
single. Hill began the Spontaneous Combustion Tour with country
singer Tim McGraw and later started seeing him, breaking off
engagement to her former producer, Scott Hendricks. When he
proposed marriage to her in one of his tour trailers, he had to
go perform right then, so she took a permanent marker and wrote
her answer on the mirror. Hill after touring with McGraw married
him on October 6, 1996. They have three daughters together:
Gracie Katherine (b. 1997), Maggie Elizabeth (b. 1998) and
Audrey Caroline (b. 2001).
1998 – 2004: Pop crossover
Hill's 1998 album, Faith, moved her closer towards a mainstream,
pop-oriented sound. "This Kiss" became a #1 country hit, and
went to #7 on the pop charts.
Hill's fame grew rapidly as she signed an endorsement deal with
CoverGirl makeup and released Breathe, an even more successful
pop hit that became one of the biggest albums of 2000. The title
track "Breathe" was ranked as the #1 pop song that year and has
become Hill's signature song; especially notable is the power
and control she shows in her lower register during the song.
"The Way You Love Me" hit the top ten as well (#6), and becoming
one of the longest running singles in the history of the
Billboard Hot 100 (57 weeks). The album won Hill three Grammy
Awards including Best Country Album.
The year 2000 was also very successful in a concert setting as
Hill and Tim McGraw staged the joint Soul2Soul Tour, one of the
best-grossing concert tours of 2000. By the holidays she had
contributed "Where Are You Christmas?" to the movie How the
Grinch Stole Christmas; this gospel-flavored song became very
popular on the all-Christmas-all-the-time holiday formats that
American radio stations adopted in the 2000s.
The following summer she recorded the Diane Warren penned "There
You'll Be" for the Pearl Harbor soundtrack. After the September
11, 2001 attacks, Hill showed her gospel colorings again when
she performed "There Will Come a Day" on the America: A Tribute
to Heroes benefit telethon. At the end of 2001, Faith released
her first collection called There You'll Be which reached the
top 30 of the Italian album chart and #6 on the UK album chart
selling nearly 1 million copies worldwide.
In 2002, Hill released Cry. Though the album debuted at #1 on
Billboard magazine's pop and country album charts, and Hill made
her debut as musical guest on Saturday Night Live, the album's
singles (including the title track "Cry", written and originally
performed by Angie Aparo) received much less radio airplay than
her previous smashes. In fact, country radio pretty much ignored
the songs, considering them "too pop". The album did win one
Grammy Award and has sold nearly 3 million copies worldwide.
Hill was also interested in branching out into acting. She had
the role of Mel Gibson's wife in We Were Soldiers, which was
released in 2002, but left the film and was replaced by
Madeleine Stowe. Then in the summer of 2004, Hill co-starred
with Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick and Glenn Close in
director Frank Oz's remake of the 1975 thriller The Stepford
Wives.
2005 – present: Back to country
roots
She references this sojourn in Hollywood as well as
the chilly reception of Cry in the 2005 country release
"Mississippi Girl", the first single from her back-to-roots
album Fireflies. It worked, as the song restored her to the top
of the country charts. "Mississippi Girl" is her 8th song to
have reached #1. She performed this song along with "Breathe"
and "Piece of My Heart" at the Live 8 concert in Rome on July 2,
2005, where McGraw also performed. The second single, "Like We
Never Loved At All", featured a duet with McGraw and reached the
top five of the country chart, as well as winning the duo a
Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. The
third single from the album was the song "The Lucky One". The
song was released to country radio in February 2006 and peaked
at #5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart.
In April 2006, Hill and husband Tim McGraw embarked on their
Soul2Soul II Tour 2006 which is now stands as the highest
grossing country music tour ever with a gross of $89 million.
Faith's band has been a highly featured part in her "almost rock
n roll" show. The fourth single was originally expected to be
"Stealing Kisses", however "Sunshine & Summertime" ended up
becoming the fourth single released from the album as the song
was sent to radio in early June. The song went to #7 on the
Billboard Country Singles Chart. The video for "Sunshine and
Summertime" was made into a contest when CMT and Hill asked
people to make a 30 second video for the song. The winner was
Issac Mezza.
Faith Hill singing in a tribute concert for America's armed
forces for ABC's Good Morning America "Stealing Kisses" became
the fifth single off of the album. The video, directed by Sophie
Muller (who also directed "Like We Never Loved At All") was shot
in New Jersey in Spring 2006. "Stealing Kisses" has had a harder
time getting started on the charts than the previous singles
from "Fireflies." Many of the fans believe the reasoning behind
this is because of the dramatic subject matter of the song.
"Stealing Kisses" debuted at #58 on the Billboard Country
Singles Chart and then it charted at #36.
The album Fireflies has sold 2 million copies in the U.S. (3
million worldwide) and was certified double platinum on January
2006.
In June 2006 a reader poll released by Country Weekly magazine
voted Hill "the most beautiful woman in country music".
2006 CMA Awards Controversy
In November 2006, Hill made entertainment news
headlines when she appeared to react angrily to losing the
Female Vocalist of the Year award to Carrie Underwood at the CMA
Awards. Hill, who was backstage at the time, could be seen
throwing both hands in the air as if she had won, and then
mouthing "What!?" into the camera and then stepping away from
the camera after Underwood's name was called. Hill claimed that
her reaction was a joke, saying in a statement, "The idea that I
would act disrespectful towards a fellow musician is
unimaginable to me. For this to become a focus of attention,
given the talent gathered, is utterly ridiculous. Carrie is a
talented and deserving female vocalist of the year." She later
called Underwood to congratulate her and to clear up any
misconceptions between the two singers.
Underwood later appeared on Oprah and talked about the event and
said that she knew Hill meant no ill-will and that Hill didn't
even need to call and apologize and when she did, it made her
respect for Hill go way up. She went on to say that Hill and
McGraw are "super-duper nice people."
Plans for 2007
Hill recently said in a radio interview that she will
be releasing two albums in 2007. A holiday album, which is
almost complete and another album. Fans expect it to be the
"Greatest Hits" album Hill talked about, or possibly a new
studio album.
Hill will be heard on Aretha Franklin's upcoming album A Woman
Falling Out of Love planned to be released on February 2007.
She has also recorded a duet called "Sleeping with the
Telephone" for Reba McEntire's upcoming Duets album, scheduled
to be released mid to late 2007.
Faith is also featured on husband Tim McGraw's new album Let It
Go. She sings two duets with him, "I Need You" and "Shotgun
Rider." Both songs were sung at the couples critically acclaimed
2006 Soul2Soul II Tour 2006.
It has recently been announced that she and McGraw will do an
encore of their Soul2Soul II Tour. Soul2Soul 2007 will begin in
June and run through August. |
| |
|