Some singers fall in love with performing after watching a school play or concert, while others are bit by the entertainment bug seeing a superstar perform live or on TV.
For Grammy-winning country songstress LeAnn Rimes, her journey started before she could talk.
“My dad has tapes of me singing when I was 18 months old,” Rimes said in a recent phone interview. “You could understand what I was saying when I was singing, but when I started speaking I could barely speak words.”
By the time Rimes was 5 years old, she was performing on stages and knew singing was her destiny. Her ability to deeply tap into songs about adult emotions came naturally.
“That part of singing has always been in me,” she said. “I think part of my gift is being able to walk out and connect with the music. Now that I’m older, it’s a completely different connection.”
Rimes will bring her rich voice — often compared to singing legend Patsy Cline — to Galway Downs in Temecula Valley Wine Country on Sunday, Sept. 17.
Looking back, Rimes said performing on big stages at such a young age seemed perfectly normal at the time, but now appears awkward.
“I have two stepsons that are 10 and 14 years old and it’s like, ‘Wow! That was not normal,'” she laughed.
Her first album, 1996’s “Blue,” and the title song took the country music world by storm when Rimes was only 13. Following the success of her debut, the ballad “How Do I Live” rose to the top of the charts where it remained for months.
Another chart-topper, “Can’t Fight the Moonlight,” from the movie “Coyote Ugly,” further cemented her success.
Growing up in the spotlight wasn’t always an easy task for Rimes.
“Starting out so young, my mom was always trying to keep me covered up,” she said. “But I was listening to Shania Twain and wanting to show my midriff, and my mom said, ‘No!'”
Rimes has finally found a comfort within herself despite societal pressures to look a certain way. And some of her choices are not only aesthetic but are all about being comfortable.
“There’s so much emphasis about image put on women and I’m kind of rebelling these days,” she said. “So, if you are at a show to get that from me then you are there for the wrong reasons.”
Like many performers in the public eye, Rimes has had to learn to deal with hurtful comments through the years.
“I was bullied as a young kid because of what I did – teachers and principals were always proud of me, but girls can be really mean at times,” Rimes said. “It’s something that has always stuck with me and it did affect me and that’s why I think it’s so important to teach our kids empathy.”
Rimes recently teamed up with the anti-bullying organization the Friend Movement to spread awareness about bullying.
“It’s so easy for kids to sit behind the computer and say hurtful things on social media,” she said. “We need to teach them to be the complete antithesis of that.”
LeAnn Rimes
When: 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17
Where: Galway Downs, 38801 Los Corralitos Road, Temecula.
Tickets: $45-$70
Information: 951-303-0405, galwaydowns.com.
