Audrey Faith Perry was born on September 21, 1967 in
Jackson, Mississippi. At a week old, she was adopted by Ted and Edna Perry, a
factory worker and former bank employee (she met her biological mother in the
early 1990s). Faith was raised in Star, Mississippi were she began singing at
fairs and churches, and pretty much anywhere there was an audience. She
graduated from McLaurin High School where she was a cheerleader as well as prom
queen.
Faith made only enough money from her singing to pay
her band and buy gas for the car. So, at 19 and after only a few months in
college, she left for Nashville where she originally found a job selling
T-shirts at the Country Music Fan Fair. Faith's next job was as a secretary for
singer-songwriter Gary Morris' publishing company. She was caught on the job
singing to the radio by one of the company's writers who convinced her to do a
song demo. Morris himself heard the demo and asked her to perform on the
professional demo tapes. Faith's first professional gig was singing backup for
songwriter-musician Gary Burr, who then became her co-producer. Then, a Warner
rothers representative heard Faith sing at one of Gary's shows and signed her
immediately. Faith's first album, Take Me As I Am (1993), sold 2 million
copies and included her debut country single, "Wild One," which held the #1
position for 4 consecutive weeks. Two years later, she released her second
album, It Matters To Me. Her newest album entitled Cry was
released in time for Thanksgiving 2004.
Among Faith Hill's many awards are: Academy of
Country Music Award for Favorite New Female in 1994; TNN/Music City News Single of the Year for "This Kiss" in 1998; Female
Vocalist of the Year in 1999 by TNN/Music City News; three Grammy awards in 2000
-- for female country vocal performance, best country album and for country
collaboration with vocals, for the McGraw duet, "Let's Make Love"; CMA Female
Vocalist of the Year in 2000. Faith is also a spokeswoman for Cover Girl
cosmetics, Pepsi, and ALLTEL. And, in 2004, Faith made her film debut in The
Stepford Wives.
The Faith Hill Family Literacy Project, designed to
help combat illiteracy worldwide, began in 1996. Faith Hill's advocacy for
family literacy is due to her father's experiences. Her father grew up in a
family where he was one of 14 children, He was forced to quit school in order to
help support the family, so he never learned to read.
Faith Hill was first married to musician Daniel
Hill from 1987 to 1991. In 1995, she became engaged to but never married Scott
Hendricks. Country music star Tim McGraw
proposed to Faith in 1996 right before going onstage to perform on his
'Spontaneous Combustion' tour. Faith responded by writing "I'm going to be your
wife" on the mirror in his trailer with her lipstick. Since their wedding on
October 6, 1996, they have recorded several songs together, and their whole
family has gone on tour. Tim and Faith have three daughters: Gracie Katherine
(b. May 5, 1997), Maggie Elizabeth (b. August 12, 1998) and Audrey Caroline (b.
December 6, 2001).
