LeAnn Rimes

At age 8, Rimes was a two-week champion on Star Search (1990) and began her phenomenal rise to fame in her early teens. She opened for Randy Travis in Dallas in 1995 and soon signed with Curb Records. Her hit song “Blue” (1996), originally written for Patsy Cline, topped the country charts. At the 1997 Grammy Awards she won Best New Artist (the youngest performer to win the award) and Best Female Country Vocal Performance; she was also Billboard's Artist of the Year. She married dancer Dean Sheremet in 2002 and they make their home in Nashville. Rimes was the host of the country version of American Idol, Nashville Star in 2005 and she also released her album This Woman that year.