She is a singer-songwriter and actress born in Plant
City, Florida, and growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, who is the daughter
of the country singer Mel Tillis.Having music around her from the time she was born she made her
first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry when she was just 8 years old which
was the same age she was when she began learning the piano.By the age of 12 she was learning
the guitar and took part in many talent contests.Then things suddenly changed for her when she was just
sixteen as she was involved in a horrific car accident which would entail
many surgical reconstructions over a period of several years.Determination showed through and as
soon as she could she became a student at Bellmont University in Nashville,
Tennessee, in the late 1970s.At the same time she sang in a band and also a duo and eventually
gave up the college life to pursue music and took a job in her father's
publishing company.Her first
ventures into a career in music came while she was in San Francisco performing
with her band Freelight and then Nashville beckoned her back, where she became
a demo singer.Getting her
name known, Warner Bros. signed her up in 1981, which would result in her
only pop album release and nine singles over the course of rest of the
1980s.Taking an interest in
acting, 1989 saw her appearing as Mary Magdalene in the stage musical Jesus
Christ Superstar put on by the Tennessee Repertory.Leaving Warner in 1987, in 1991 she
concentrated on her songwriting and was taken onto the staff by Tree
Publishing.Also in 1991, with
her new record company Arista Nashville,she achieved a country chart hit with "Don't Tell Me
What To Do" which appeared on her Put Yourself in My Place, her gold
status second album.This was
the beginning of her huge success on the charts with over 30 songs
appearing in the country chart over the next 15 years or so, including her
chart-topping "Mi Vide Loca (My Crazy Life)" and her No. 2 country chart
hit "When You Walk in the Room".As a songwriter her songs have been recorded by many artists such as
Gloria Gaynor, Chaka Khan, Juice Newto and Conway Twitty and include Five
Minutes which was taken to No. 1 by Lonnie Morgan and "Those Memories Of
You" which was a chart hit for Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt & Dolly
Parton.Her ventures
into television have seen her appearing in the shows Diagnosis Murder
and Promised Land and L.A. Law.In 2000 she was made a Grand Ole Opry member and in 2001
appeared in the Leiber & Stoller tribute on Broadway as well as
featuring in Broadway's Smokey Joe's Cafe.Not long after this she left Arista and would would
later form her own Stellar Cat Records in 2007.Working with many artists she has been heard on
recordings by acts such as Greg Douglass, Crystal Gayle, Nicky Hopkins, Daniel
O'Donnell, Dolly Parton and Dan Seals among others.Albums she has appeared on during
the course of her career include 10 of her own such as Above and Beyond
the Doll of Cutey, Homeward Looking Angel, Sweetheart's Dance, All of This
Love, Thunder and Roses and Rhinestoned and also Last Mango
in Paris by Jimmy Buffett, Big Town by Ashley Cleveland, Circle
Back Home by Tom Kimmel, Circles & Arrows by Cheryl Wheeler
and the soundtracks of 8 Seconds and Prince of Egypt to name
just a chosen few.Recognised
for her achievements in music she was ranked No. 30 in the 40 Greatest
Women of Country Music by CMT in 2002.She has also won the CMA's "Vocal Event of the Year"
with George Jones & Friends in 1993 and "Female Vocalist of the Year"
in 1994 as well as two Grammy nominations in 1997 and the Grammy Award for
"Best Country Collaboration With Vocals" in 1999.
