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 Trisha grew up on a farm in Monticello, Georgia, a small
town about an hour's drive from Atlanta, Macon, and Athens. Her father,
a retired banker, and her mother, a retired schoolteacher, now run
Trisha's fan club from there.
By the time Trisha was five or six years old she was a
big Elvis fan
and through high school she absorbed musical influences from all
directions, including the country artists of her parents' record
collection, southern rock on the radio and school musicals and choral
groups.
In 1985, midway through college, Trisha transferred to
Nashville's
Belmont University music business program. She worked her way up on
Music Row, starting as an intern at MTM Records, then moving to the
front desk. Gradually she began singing demos for songwriters-an
experience that she would draw heavily on when it came time to pick
songs for her own recordings. Soon she moved on up to the background
vocals on master sessions.
Finally
she enlisted the support of producer Garth Fundis to put
together a showcase performance, and she was signed to MCA. Trisha's
1991 single debut, "She's In Love With The Boy", found a new youthful
market for country music that the industry was not yet aware of, and it
shot up the charts, spending two weeks at #1.
It was the first of four hits from her album, Trisha
Yearwood, which
went to #2 and was certified double platinum for two millions copies
sold. She won new artist awards from the Academy of Country Music, the
American Music Awards and Pollstar (a concert industry award).
From her first record, audiences knew there was
something special about her performance. She would later sum it up in a
Billboard interview: "I just flat out love to sing. . . If you really
feel it, other people will hopefully feel it too. But even if nobody's
listening, I will do it forever".
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