Background and career
Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (née Rimes, born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at the age of 13 and has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Christian, and other musical genres. Rimes has placed more than 40 singles on international charts since 1996. She has sold more than 48 million records worldwide, with 20.8 million album sales in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Billboard ranked her at number 17 in terms of sales success in the 1990–1999 decade. Born in Mississippi and raised in Texas, Rimes demonstrated a unique singing ability from a young age. Through her parents' efforts, Rimes began performing in various musical theater and local music contests. Working with her father Wilbur as producer and manager, Rimes released two independent albums as a preteen. After signing with Curb Records in 1996, she released the single "Blue", which became a top-10 hit on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. Her first Curb album and third overall, Blue was certified Platinum six times and established her as a major country artist. She received the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance, becoming the youngest winner of these categories. In 1997, Rimes crossed over into pop music with "How Do I Live", which became one of the best-selling singles of the 1990s. The track was included on her next album You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs (1997), which was certified quadruple Platinum. It was followed up with the Platinum-certified albums Sittin' on Top of the World (1998) and LeAnn Rimes (1999). In the following years, Rimes released several pop singles for soundtrack albums, which include "I Need You" and "Can't Fight the Moonlight", the latter of which became a major hit worldwide. Several of these soundtrack singles were compiled on the Platinum-certified album I Need You (2001). Breaking away from her father's management in the 2000s, Rimes released the Gold-certified pop album Twisted Angel (2002) and the Christmas record What a Wonderful World (2004). She returned to her country origins with This Woman (2005), which produced three country hits and was certified Gold. Later album releases were Whatever We Wanna (2006), Family (2007), Lady & Gentlemen (2011) and Spitfire (2013). After ending her long-time professional relationship with Curb Records, Rimes released the Christmas album Today Is Christmas (2015) and pop studio album Remnants (2016), the latter of which featured two number one Billboard dance club hits. In the years that followed, she released the albums Chant: The Human & the Holy (2020) and God's Work (2022). Rimes has also had several notable television film roles. She began her acting career with the film Holiday in Your Heart (1997). After appearing in the television film Northern Lights (2009), Rimes began an affair with co-star Eddie Cibrian which received notable media attention. She has since appeared in Good Intentions (2010), Reel Love (2011), and It's Christmas, Eve (2018). In 2024, she was featured as a coach on The Voice Australia and The Voice UK. In 2025, Rimes was cast as Dixie Bennings on 9-1-1: Nashville.
Margaret LeAnn Rimes was born on August 28, 1982, in Jackson, Mississippi. She is the only child of Wilbur Rimes and Belinda Butler. The family moved to Garland, Texas, when she was six. She was enrolled in vocal and dance classes, and she has performed at local talent shows at the age of five. Rimes began her career in musical theatre, performing in a Dallas, Texas, production of A Christmas Carol, and almost landing the lead part in the Broadway production of Annie. After appearing as a one-week champion on the television competition show Star Search, Rimes chose to pursue a career in country music. Rimes appeared a number of times on Johnnie High's Country Music Revue in Arlington, Texas, which gained the attention of local talent scouts. By age nine, Rimes was an experienced singer. She toured nationally with her father and also regularly performed a cappella renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the opening of the Dallas Cowboys football games. In 1991, she released her debut album Everybody's Sweetheart on an independent label called Nor Va Jak. Due to the independent album's success throughout the Dallas music community, Rimes was discovered by local disc jockey and record promoter Bill Mack. Mack was impressed by Rimes's vocal ability, and over the next three years, he made various attempts to sign Rimes to a major country music label. The center of Mack's plan to bring her success was his 1958 single, "Blue". In July 1994, Rimes included her first version of "Blue" on her second and final Nor Va Jak release, All That; she also co-wrote "Share My Love" for this album. Mack then arranged a recording contract for Rimes with Curb Records. She signed with the Nashville label in 1996.
After signing with Curb, Rimes recorded a new version of "Blue" as a single. Rimes stated that the version of 'Blue' that reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart was a recording she had made at age 11. Critics drew comparisons between Rimes and that of Patsy Cline, to whom the song had been pitched in 1963; Mack claimed that Cline was unable to record the song before her death. A press release for the song said that Mack had been "waiting over 30 years to find the right vocalist to sing it". The song had previously been recorded by multiple artists over the years. Nonetheless, the media attention to "Blue" further added to the belief that Rimes was the successor to Cline's legacy. Rimes's first Curb album and third overall, Blue was released in 1996. The disc sold 123,000 copies in its first week. On Blue, Rimes co-wrote "Talk to Me" with Ron Grimes and Jon Rutherford. The album peaked at number one on Billboard's Top Country Albums and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In March 1999, Blue was certified six times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) In Canada, the album was certified triple Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (now Music Canada), a certification which, at the time, honored shipments of 300,000 copies in that country. As of 2009, it has sold over eight million copies worldwide. Shawn Haney of AllMusic considered the album to be "delightful" and that it could "help inspire other young teens". Two additional singles from the album made the top 40 on the Billboard country singles chart: "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)", which represented her highest peak on that chart at number one, and its follow-up "The Light in Your Eyes", which peaked at number five. "Blue" and "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)" both made top 10 on RPM Country Tracks, then the main country music chart published in Canada, with "Blue" being her most successful single there. Blue's commercial success led to the first of several industry award nominations for Rimes. The title track earned Rimes her first Grammy Award at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards in 1997, in the category of Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance; she became the youngest person to win these awards. That year, the Country Music Association also awarded Rimes the Horizon Award, making her the youngest person ever to be nominated and win a Country Music Association award. The Academy of Country Music also awarded her Top New Female Vocalist, Song of the Year, and Single Record of the Year in 1996; she would be nominated for the latter two again in 1997.
By 1997, Rimes's parents divorced. In February 1997, Curb released Unchained Melody: The Early Years, a reissue of the previously independently released All That (1994). It was named after Rimes's cover of Alex North and Hy Zaret's 1955 standard "Unchained Melody", which was a number 3 Billboard country hit that March. Unchained Melody topped the Billboard 200 and was certified double Platinum by the RIAA. Three months later, Rimes appeared on a live television special, recorded at Walt Disney World in Orlando, for Disney Channel in Concert. Curb released Rimes's next album You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs that September. It was a departure from Rimes's previous releases with more Adult Contemporary-styled music than country. The album was preceded by the single "How Do I Live", which became a major pop hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number two. "How Do I Live" set a new record for becoming the longest-running single in Billboard Hot 100 history, spending 69 weeks on the chart. The song was ranked as the most successful song of the 1990s by Billboard magazine. The song also saw success in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number seven and was certified Platinum. A cover of Joseph Brooks's "You Light Up My Life" was released as the album's second single; the song peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Gold. You Light Up My Life topped the Billboard 200 and was certified quadruple Platinum by the RIAA the following year for shipments of four million copies. Rimes made her acting debut on the ABC television film Holiday in Your Heart, which premiered on December 14. The film was based on Rimes's titular book, which was released two months earlier. The film was the start of a three-movie contract that Rimes was offered by ABC in 1998. The film was semi-autobiographical, with Rimes playing a country performer who discovers that her grandmother becomes hospitalized. In the film, Rimes performed several of her hit songs. In 1998, she played a teen runaway in an episode of NBC's Days of Our Lives.
Rimes's next Curb release was 1998's Sittin' on Top of the World. The album was given mixed reviews. James Hunter of Rolling Stone stated that Rimes "holds her own in the more popular style of Mariah Carey and Celine Dion, wherein a spectacular voice upstages a song, grins and goes on about her business." Sittin' on Top of the World debuted at number two on the Top Country Albums chart and at number three on the Billboard 200. The project spawned the number four Billboard country hit "Commitment", the Top 20 Pop hit "Looking Through Your Eyes" from the soundtrack of the 1998 film Quest for Camelot, and the number 10 country hit "Nothin' New Under the Moon". In July, the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA for shipments of one million copies. In April 13, 1999, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes at the VH1 Divas 1999. In October 1999, Curb released Rimes's sixth studio album, LeAnn Rimes, which she co-produced with Wilbur. The record was a collection of country music cover songs mainly by Patsy Cline. The album received mostly positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album one of her "better" efforts. Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a positive review and said that Rimes's voice "dares listeners to take note of what is missing in her interpretations—the gutsiness and gut-wrenching urgency of performers who felt what they sang." The album debuted at number one on the Top Country Albums chart, topping the country albums chart for two weeks. It also peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The album sold over one million copies in the United States, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The project also included the new song "Big Deal". Released as the lead single, "Big Deal" peaked at number six on the country singles charts. Also in 1999, Rimes collaborated with Elton John on "Written in the Stars" for the stage musical Aida.
In 2000, Rimes contributed "I Need You" to the soundtrack for the 1999 TV movie Jesus. The song was issued as the lead single from the soundtrack in July 2000 in both pop and country versions. The song reached number eight on the Billboard country songs chart and number 11 on the Hot 100. Rimes appeared in the 2000 film Coyote Ugly and contributed four songs to its soundtrack; Rimes sang for Piper Perabo's character Violet Sanford in the film. In August, "Can't Fight the Moonlight" was released as a single from the film's soundtrack. The song 'Can't Fight the Moonlight' represented a shift toward pop music for Rimes. The single reached the top 10 on charts in multiple countries. In the United States, it reached number 11 on the Hot 100 and was certified Platinum, while in the United Kingdom, the song topped the charts and was certified double Platinum. In Australia, the song was the biggest-selling single of 2001, where it peaked at number 1 for six weeks, topped the year-end chart, and was certified triple Platinum. In total, the song received Platinum certifications from six countries and Gold certifications from a further three. "Can't Fight the Moonlight" won Rimes a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for "Favorite Song from a Movie".
