Margaret LeAnn Rimes (born August 28, 1982) is an American country music and pop singer, songwriter, and actress, who records under the name LeAnn Rimes. She is best known for her rich vocals similar to legendary country music singer Patsy Cline, and her rise to fame at the age of 13, becoming the youngest country music star since Tanya Tucker in 1972. Rimes made her breakthrough into country music in 1996. Her debut album, Blue, reached #1 on the Top Country Albums chart and was certified "multi-platinum" in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album’s lead single of the same name (originally intended to be recorded by Patsy Cline in the early 1960s) became a Top 10 hit. With immediate success, Rimes attained widespread national acclaim for her similarities to Cline's vocal style. When Rimes released her sophomore studio effort in 1997, You Light up My Life: Inspirational Songs, Rimes went more towards country pop material, which would set the trend for a string of albums that would be released into the next decade. Since her debut, Rimes has won many major industry awards, which include two Grammys, three ACMs, one CMA, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and one American Music award.[4] In addition, Rimes has also released ten studio albums and four compilation albums through her record label of 13 years, Asylum-Curb, and placed over forty singles on American and international charts since 1996. 1996: Blue After signing with Curb, Rimes re-recorded a new version of "Blue" that was to be released on her debut studio album on the label. In 1996, the new version of "Blue" was released as a single, reaching a peak of #10 on the Billboard Country Chart. While Curb was releasing "Blue," a claim was also sent out that Mack had been waiting over thirty years to find the perfect artist to record "Blue." However the story later resulted to be an exaggeration, as it was found out that "Blue" had already been recorded by three different artists. Mack himself and Kenny Roberts both released versions of the song under Starday Records in the 1960s. In 1993, Austrialian artist, Catherine Britt released her own version as a single in ner native nation. The story though was continually spread throughout the national press, adding to the idea that Rimes was the successor to Patsy Cline's legacy. Rimes's album, Blue, was also released in 1996, and sold 123,000 copies in its first week, which was the highest figure in SoundScan history up to that point. The album peaked at #1 on the Top Country Albums and debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, eventually selling a total of four million copies in the United States and eight million copies worldwide. Allmusic considered the album to be "delightful" and "help inspire other young teens." Rimes followed up the single with several charting country singles from her 1996 album, starting with "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)," which reached #1 on the Billboard Country Chart in 1996. She also released a duet single with Eddy Arnold from the album, a remake of his 1955 hit, "Cattle Call." Among the other album's hits included the Top 5 hit "The Light in Your Eyes" and the minor hit, "Hurt Me". With the album's success, Rimes received many major industry awards. In 1996 Rimes won the Country Music Association's "Horizon Award", becoming the youngest person to ever be nominated and win a Country Music Association award. The following year, she was awarded Grammy awards, one for Best New Artist and another for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Blue" [Source: Wikipedia]