Faith Hill Biography

NAME: Faith Hill

OCCUPATION: Singer

BIRTH DATE: September 21, 1967 (Age: 44)

PLACE OF BIRTH: Jackson, Mississippi

ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

Singer and songwriter. Born Audrey Faith Perry, on September 21, 1967, in Jackson, Mississippi. Raised along with her two older brothers by adoptive parents Pat and Edna Perry, Hill grew up near Jackson, where Pat Perry worked in a factory. Her first singing experience came as a child in her family's Baptist church. As a young teenager, Hill learned to play guitar, and by age 16 she had started her own country band that played at a number of local fairs and rodeos. After graduating from high school in 1986, Hill spent a year in community college before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue her love of music.

In Nashville, Hill worked as a receptionist at a music publishing company before landing a job packaging fan merchandise for her idol, country diva Reba McEntire. She married the songwriter and music publishing executive Daniel Hill in 1988. Hill's professional breakthrough came when she was spotted by Martha Sharp, a talent scout from the Warner/Reprise recording company, while singing back-up for Gary Burr in the Bluebird Café, a popular Nashville bar. Her debut album, Take Me As I Am, was released in 1993 to immediate success. The album's first single, "Wild One," reached No. 1 on the Billboard country music chart and stayed there for four weeks, followed by the second single, a version of Janis Joplin's classic "Piece of My Heart." Take Me As I Am went on to reach triple platinum status.

Faith Hill hit the scene in 1994, with her debut album Take Me As I Am and its no. 1 single, "Wild One." Her second album, It Matters To Me was another hit, and Hill garnered awards and praise from the country music industry. By the late '90s she was making it on the pop charts with hits such as "Breathe" and "The Way You Love Me" (from the Grammy-winning 1999 album Breathe). She also began recording duets with her husband, country music star Tim McGraw, and her magazine-friendly looks -- blonde and thin -- made her a top celebrity. She "returned" to country with 2005's Fireflies and had a hit with "Mississippi Girl," and in 2006 Hill and McGraw had a hugely successful concert tour. She released a Christmas album in 2008, Joy to the World.