4idols Faith Hill

Birth name: Audrey Faith Perry
Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)
Birthday: 09/21/1967
Education: McLaurin High School
Weight: 127 lbs.

Raised in Star, Mississippi. As a big-haired high school brunette, she scheduled singing gigs at fairs and churches around her duties as prom queen and cheerleader. She made only enough money to pay the band and buy gas for the car. An older brother drove her to gigs and bought her blue suede boots. At age 19, she left for Nashville where she worked as a gofer for Reba McEntire.

Faith Hill has become a beloved global superstar by pouring herself into songs ever since receiving her first musical education in various churches in her home state. With the release of her sixth album, "Fireflies", Faith has put more of her heart and soul into her music than ever before. "I feel a closeness to all of the albums that I've recorded, but this one, to me, just feels as honest and as real as it gets. It speaks about a lot of things that are personal to all of us," Hill says of Fireflies, which she co-produced with her longtime producers Byron Gallimore and Dann Huff, "That's what I wanted for this record. I wanted it to feel honest. I wanted this album to be full of real stories ? to be about people and the things that we all experience."

From the homespun celebration of the opening track "Sunshine and Summertime," one of three songs co-written by Big & Rich's John Rich, to the poetic final hidden track "Paris," Fireflies is a heartfelt song cycle that feels both deeply personal and at the same time somehow universal. Hill has been making a deep connection with music lovers ever since her multi-platinum debut, 1993's Take Me As I Am. With each album that has followed, all multi-platinum sellers, 1995's It Matters To Me, 1998's Faith, 1999's massive breakthrough Breathe and 2002's Cry - and throughout her journey, she has continued to grow and to push herself as a singer and recording artist. "It's all been meaningful for me," says Hill. "And I feel strongly that I couldn't have made this album without making the others. As an artist, the things that I've done and the choices that I've made have allowed me to make Fireflies. It's all been part of a great growing process, made possible by my fans."

For Hill, the process of making Fireflies was not that different than any of her other chart-topping efforts - except that it took a bit longer because she was dedicated to serving no song before its time. "There was no settling at all," she explains. "I listened to hundreds and hundreds of songs and tried to keep myself focused and remind myself to be patient," At one point last year Hill thought she was done. "I was ready to close things down. The album was finished. But then I heard `If You Ask' written by Lori McKenna," recalls Hill. "I was floored. I asked to hear all of her songs because I felt if I could write, I would want to write just like this woman. So I snuck back into the studio, I didn't tell anyone what I was doing. I felt as though it would have been a travesty not to go back in and cut those songs."

In the end, Hill decided to add three songs written by McKenna including "Fireflies," the moving song that ended up giving Hill's latest album its title. "I wanted to call the album Fireflies because even before I heard the song the title took me to my childhood to a place filled with incredible memories. Then I heard the song and it said so much about the need to dream, about how sometimes it's all we have. I just have to say, I had a dream to be onstage and if I had not seen myself doing it, I never would have done it."

Over the past decade Faith Hill's musical dream has come true and more. She's had massive sales success, nearly 30 million albums sold and countless honors and accolades including four Grammy wins, three awards from the Country Music Association, twelve from the Academy of Country Music, as well as four People's Choice Award wins as Favorite Female Music Performer in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Yet as grateful as Hill is for all her international standing, Hill admits, "I think at some point in my career, my celebrity began to overwhelm who I was as a musician. I've always come from a real place as an artist. Everything I've done, I've tried to do from the soul. And for me, this album brings that all home."

Having now completed Fireflies, Hill acknowledges, "I do feel a sense of relief. I'm excited because I know that I've absolutely poured my heart into this record and I can't wait to share it with people over the next few years. I feel like every song here is a chapter in a story that I can't wait to tell."

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