Intimate Portrait

LeAnn Rimes (11x12)

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LeAnn Rimes: Country's Youngest Megastar LeAnn Rimes was born on August 28, 1982, in Flowood, Mississippi. Rimes' father, a part-time musician, passed on his love of singing to his daughter, who was regularly winning singing contests by age five. By the time she was eight, she was belting out the national anthem at professional sporting events such as Dallas Cowboys football games. This led to her being discovered by Bill Mack, a well-known Dallas DJ and songwriter. Mack asked Rimes to try out his song ""Blue,"" which he initially wrote for the legendary Patsy Cline, and the results wowed Mack and all who heard it. ""Blue"" soon became the young artist's signature tune and helped her land a contract with Curb Records in 1994. Rimes' first big album release, also titled ""Blue,"" earned her stardom — and two Grammy Awards. At 14, Rimes had an even bigger follow-up, ""How Do I Live?"" which became the longest-running single in Billboard chart history. But then two years of constant performing,