Shelby Lynne

A powerful and emotive American country singer, Shelby Lynne made her breakthrough with her rich 1999 storytelling album I Am Shelby Lynne. Born in Quantico, Virginia on October 22nd, 1968, her mother took Shelby and her younger sister Allison (also a singer) to Mobile, Alabama to escape her abusive father. However, he tracked them down and in 1986 the then 17-year-old Shelby's life was shattered when her father suddenly appeared, shot her mother to death and then killed himself in front of the girls. They subsequently moved in with an aunt in Mobile and Shelby soon departed for Nashville, channelling all her emotions into music. An appearance on the show Nashville Now in 1987 resulted in her being signed to Epic Records. Her first recording was a duet with George Jones, “If I Could Bottle This Up”, and Nashville legend Billy Sherrill produced her debut album, Sunrise. The more mainstream follow-up Tough All Over raised her profile further and, by the release of 1991's Soft Talk, she'd moved into pure slick pop country territory. Splitting from Epic to sign with the smaller Morgan Creek label, she then returned to a more traditional country style and her star rose again after she collaborated with Vince Gill on his hugely successful 1996 album High Lonesome Sound, providing harmony vocals on the hit “You And You Alone”. She finally achieved major stardom mixing country with gritty blues, working with Bill Bottrell on the confessional 1998 album I Am Shelby Lynne, which she described as coming from "a vulnerable, desperate place." After 13 years and six albums, it finally won her the Best New Artist award at the following year's Grammys. One of the tracks, “Dream Some”, even featured in the Bridget Jones's Diary soundtrack. In 2008, she paid tribute to one of her heroes, Dusty Springfield, on Just a Little Lovin’, which proved to be one of her best-sellers and she then went on to launch her own label, Everso Records. In 2017, she collaborated and toured with her sister Allison Moorer on Not Dark Yet, produced by Teddy Thompson and featuring covers of songs by Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, The Killers and Nirvana. She returned in 2020 with an eponymous sixteenth album. Lynne has also done a bit of acting, including playing Johnny Cash's mother in the movie Walk the Line.