Hill, Faith

views updated

Hill, Faith

Hill, Faith, one of the biggest country crossover artists of the 1990s; b. Jackson, Miss., Sept. 21, 1967. Raised in the small town of Star, Miss., Hill formed her first band at 17 to play local rodeos. By 22, she had moved to Nashville, where she made ends meet selling T-shirts while trying to make connections as a performer. Eventually she took a job as a secretary with a music publishing company. In this position, she made some connections, most notably with songwriter Gary Burr, who helped her with a demo that led to a contract with Warner Bros. She became the first woman in 30 years to top the country charts for four consecutive weeks with her 1994 debut single, a rocking honky-tonk tune, “Wild One.” She followed this with a version of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart.” Her debut went double platinum. With that success under her belt, the phones started ringing. She recorded “Where You Lead” for the 1995 tribute to Carole King’s Tapestry and a tune for the Disney film Mr. Wrong. People proclaimed her one of 1995’s “50 Most Beautiful People.”

Hill played over 250 shows during 1994 and 1995, opening for her musical hero, Reba McEntire among others. Her sophomore album, It Matters to Me, sold twice as fast as her debut. The title track spent three weeks atop the country charts, her fourth single to do that. The album went double platinum. Hill was invited to perform in the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She played 140 shows with Tim McGraw, a tour auspiciously billed the “Spontaneous Combustion Tour.” The show lived up to its name for Hill and McGraw. On a stop in McGraw’s hometown, they got married. In 1997, they had a child and a #1 country hit with the duet “It’s Your Love.” The song spent six weeks atop the country chart.

Hill took three years between the release of It Matters to Me and her third album, Faith, to have another child. In anticipation of the record’s release, Hill went on the road with McGraw as part of the George Strait Chevy Truck Country Music Festival. By the summer of 1998, they had played for over a million people. Going into the making of Faith, Hill set out to record songs that were less slight than her previous hits, that reflected the maturity married life and motherhood had wrought on her. However, she didn’t want to lose her energy, either. The album balanced both to the extent that the single “This Kiss” not only was the most played song of the year but crossed over pop after Hill performed the song on the Tonight Show and the tune was featured in the film Practical Magic. The song rose to #26 pop in addition hitting the #1 country spot. The album went to #7.

Hill’s newfound mainstream acceptance opened new doors. She became a spokesperson for Cover Girl cosmetics. At one shoot, she met fellow modeling musician Brandy. Brandy asked Hill to be her special guest on the 1999 edition of Divas. After taking off on her first headlining tour, Hill recorded Breathe. The album featured material by Bruce Springsteen and yet another duet with McGraw, a passionate ballad called “Let’s Make Love.” The album debuted at #1 on both the pop and country charts. The title track reached #1 on the country charts late in 1999.

Hill has long supported pro-literacy projects including her own foundation. She supports the cause because her father, one of 13 children, had to quit school early to work on the family farm and never learned to read well. At most of her concerts, fans are urged to bring books to donate.