LEE ANN WOMACK
Born
Aug. 19, 1966, in Jacksonville, Texas, Lee Ann's father
was a part time disc jockey who frequently took her to the
studio and let her pick out records for him to play. (Bob Wills,
Ray Price and Glen Campbell were her favorites.)
At home, she would lie between the stereo speakers and, when
the weather conditions were right, absorb the music beaming in
from the Grand Ole Opry. Instead of taking her senior trip with
the rest of her class, she bargained with her parents for a
visit to Nashville where she toured Music Row and watched TNN
tapings.
Initially, Womack studied music at South Plains Junior
College in Levelland, Texas, one of the first schools to offer a
degree in bluegrass and country music. She quickly became a
member of the school band, Country Caravan, and toured with it
throughout the Southwest and Southern California. Subsequently,
she enrolled in Belmont University's music business program in
Nashville, which enabled her to intern in the A&R department
at MCA Records. In 1990, she moved to Nashville permanently.
During her stay at Belmont, Womack married songwriter Jason
Sellers (which ended in divorce a few years later), became a
mother and stayed home for a couple of years. Then she showcased
around town and sang demos for songwriters. She also
concentrated more on her own songwriting and signed to Tree
Publishing in 1995. A year later, she signed as an artist with
Decca Records, the legendary label of Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline,
Webb Pierce, Loretta Lynn and many other of her musical heroes.
In 1997, her first single, "Never Again,
Again",
stunned radio programmers with its traditional country sound and
only climbed to No. 22. With endorsements from Alan
Jackson, George Strait and other torchbearers, Womack rose to
the No. 2 spot four times with singles on Decca. When the label
shuttered, she moved to MCA Nashville.
Lee Ann gave birth to a daughter, her second, and married her
producer Frank Liddell in 1999. Both daughters appeared in her
video for "I Hope You Dance", her biggest hit to date.
The single spent five weeks at No. 1 and crossed over to the pop
and adult contemporary charts. She picked up the CMA female
vocalist award in 2001, and "I Hope You Dance" was
named the CMA's song and single of the year. The corresponding
album sold 3 million copies.
Her 2002 follow-up, Something Worth Leaving Behind,
proved to be a
misguided attempt at a glossy, pop-flavored attitude and Lee Ann
Womack's
career stalled. She also released the Big Band-inspired Christmas album, A
Season for Romance. A hit collaboration with
Willie Nelson, "Mendocino County Line", won a Grammy
and a CMA award in 2002.
In 2005, she returned to traditional country music with the
album There's More Where That Came From.
