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Sara Evans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sara Evans | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Sara Lynn Evans | |
| Born | February 5, 1971 (age 36) | |
| Origin |  New Franklin, Missouri |
|
| Genre(s) | Country | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer | |
| Years active | 1997–present | |
| Label(s) | RCA Nashville Records | |
Sara Lynn Evans (born February 5, 1971) is a country music singer.
Contents |
Evans was born in Missouri and raised on a farm there, as the oldest girl among eight children. Music was a part of her life at an early age; by five she was singing every weekend in her family's band. At age eight, she was struck by an automobile in front of the family home, and both her legs suffered multiple fractures. Recuperating for months in a wheelchair, she continued singing to help pay her medical bills. When she was 16, she began performing at a nightclub near Columbia, Missouri, a gig that lasted two years.
Evans married Craig Schelske, an aspiring politician, in 1993 and filed for divorce in 2006. Evans and Schelske have three children; Avery Jack Lyons (born 21 August 1999), Olivia Margaret (born 22 January 2003) and Audrey Elizabeth (born 6 October 2004).
Sara and the children reside in Franklin, Tennessee.
She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1991 to become a country artist. That year she met Craig Schelske there and a year later moved to Oregon. They were involved both professionally and personally. Schelske and Evans were married in 1993 and returned to Nashville in 1995, where she began recording demos. Songwriter Harlan Howard heard Evans' demo of one of his songs and decided she should be the one to sing his music. She went under contract with RCA.
In 1997, Evans released her first album, Three Chords and the Truth. Critics praised the album for returning to traditional country and named it to many of their year's "top 10" lists. However, it did not catch on with country radio at the time, and none of the three singles made the top 40.
In 1998 Evans released her sophomore album, No Place That Far. Critics slammed her on choosing a more pop/country-oriented album. Her first single, "Cryin' Game," hardly made a ripple on the charts. It was her next single, "No Place That Far," a duet with Vince Gill, that would be her first No. 1 single. The album has been certified gold.
Evans released her "make it or break it" album, Born to Fly, in 2000. Her first single, "Born to Fly," hit No. 1 and proved to be her biggest hit until "Suds in the Bucket." The hits kept coming as her next single, "I Could Not Ask For More," hit No. 2. "Saints and Angels," Evans' favorite song on the album, hit No. 16, and the last single, "I Keep Looking," made it to No. 5. The album has been certified double platinum. Another notable track on the album is a joyous cover version of Bruce Hornsby and the Range's Every Little Kiss.
Evans led the pack as the most-nominated artist at the 2001 Country Music Association awards with seven, and she won her first CMA award when "Born to Fly" won the award for Video of the Year, her first major country award.
In 2003, Evans released Restless. This album showed her versatility as the songs crossed in with different genres such as country, pop, blues, and soul. The album's first single, "Backseat of a Greyhound Bus," went to No. 16. The next single, "Perfect," went to No. 2. The next single, "Suds in the Bucket," went to No. 1, became her biggest hit since "Born to Fly" and quickly became a fan favorite. The next single, "Tonight," fell short of the top 40. Restless has been certified platinum.
In 2004, Evans was the most-played female singer on country music radio thanks to singles such as "Suds in the Bucket" and "Perfect." Evans also performed at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
In 2005, Evans struck gold with her new album's first single "A Real Fine Place to Start." With help from this single, the album, Real Fine Place, was propelled to No. 1 on the country charts and No. 3 on the pop charts with more than 130,000 copies sold in the first week, nearly triple the sales from her previous album, Restless. Real Fine Place was the best-selling album of her career. The single from the album stood on top of the Billboard and Radio and Record Charts for two weeks. Evans was nominated for two CMA awards, including the prestigious "Female Vocalist of the Year" and prized "Musical Event of the Year" (the latter in part due to her duet with Brad Paisley, "New Again"). However, she lost in both categories. Evans went on the road with Paisley and newcomers Sugarland on Paisley's Time Well Wasted Tour. "Cheatin'" was the second single released, and it cracked the top 10. Real Fine Place was certified gold.
On December 6, 2005, Evans released Feels Like Home through Cracker Barrel stores. The album consists of some of her most memorable songs in different remixes. For example, there is an acoustic version of "No Place That Far," a live version of "Born To Fly" and several other remixes of her most popular songs.
In 2006, R&R announced Evans as Female Vocalist of the Year in its 2006 Readers' Poll. In a recent interview with CMT she also revealed she would headline her own tour in the fall after she rounds out her current tour with Brad Paisley.
She has a global music publishing deal with BMG Music Publishing's Nashville division.
After "Cheatin'," her next single off Real Fine Place was "Coalmine," which already was at No. 60 before its release date on April 10, but the song failed to reach the top 30. Speculation shows radio was resistant to the song because of the recent coalmine tragedy in West Virginia, even though Evans with the song writers and RCA Nashville agreed to donate procedes from single sales to the coal mine victims' families. Lack of a video also seemed to have hurt the overall performance of "Coalmine." In 2006 Sara also toured with country music duo Brooks & Dunn.
In spring 2006, Sara released Always There through Hallmark stores for Mothers' Day. The album has six of her favorite already-released songs including a live version of "Suds in the Bucket" and an acoustic version of "Born to Fly." Two new songs are on the disc: "You Ought to Know by Now" and "Brooklyn & Austin."
On May 23, 2006, Evans performed her single, "Coalmine," and competed at the 2006 ACM Awards in Las Vegas, and she won her first ACM for the "Female Vocalist Of The Year."
People magazine named Evans among its annual "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" for 2005. In June 2006, a reader poll released by Country Weekly magazine voted Evans among the "most beautiful women in country music," second only to Faith Hill.
After the disappointing performance of "Coalmine" on country radio, Sara has announced at her concerts that her next single will be "You'll Always Be My Baby" from Real Fine Place,. A video directed by Kristen Barlowe was filmed in Los Angeles in early August 2006.
In September 2006, Sara began competing with other celebrities on the third season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars with (professional) partner Tony Dovolani. Evans launched a new fan web site, www.dancingwithsara.com, to provide behind-the-scenes material from her participation on the program. Sara is the first country music singer to ever participate in the show.
On October 12, 2006, Sara left Dancing with the Stars, citing personal reasons. On October 13, it was revealed that Evans had filed for divorce from her husband, Craig Schelske, of thirteen years.[1]. It has generated a large amount of controversy, because of Evans and Scheleke's public support of the Republican Party. [2] However it appears to have had no effect on her career. [3]
It was announced that Sara would release a greatest hits CD in the early fall of 2007. It will contain three new songs. [4]
- Three Chords and the Truth (1997, RCA)
- No Place That Far (1998, RCA)
- Born to Fly (2000, RCA)
- Restless (2003, RCA)
- Real Fine Place (2005, RCA)
- Feels Like Home (2005, Cracker Barrel)
- Always There (2006, Hallmark)
- Greatest Hits (Fall 2007) (RCA)
For complete discography, see Sara Evans discography.
| Year | Title | Album | US | US Country | RIAA Certification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "True Lies" | Three Chords and the Truth | - | 59 | - |
| 1997 | "Three Chords and the Truth" | Three Chords and the Truth | - | 44 | - |
| 1998 | "Shame About That" | Three Chords and the Truth | - | 48 | - |
| 1998 | "Cryin' Game" | No Place that Far | - | 56 | - |
| 1999 | "No Place that Far" | No Place that Far | 37 | 1 | - |
| 1999 | "Fool, I'm a Woman" | No Place that Far | - | 32 | - |
| 2000 | "That's the Beat of a Heart" (w/ The Warren Brothers) | Where the Heart Is OST King Of Nothing (Warren Brothers album) |
- | 22 | - |
| 2000 | "Born to Fly" | Born to Fly | 34 | 1 | - |
| 2001 | "I Could Not Ask For More" | Born to Fly | 35 | 2 | - |
| 2002 | "Saints and Angels" | Born to Fly | - | 16 | - |
| 2002 | "I Keep Looking" | Born to Fly | 35 | 5 | - |
| 2003 | "Backseat of a Greyhound Bus" | Restless | - | 16 | - |
| 2004 | "Perfect" | Restless | 46 | 2 | - |
| 2004 | "Suds in the Bucket" | Restless | 33 | 1 | Gold |
| 2005 | "Tonight" | Restless | - | 41 | - |
| 2005 | "A Real Fine Place to Start"A | Real Fine Place | 38 | 1 | Gold |
| 2005 | "Cheatin'" | Real Fine Place | 69 | 9 | - |
| 2006 | "Coalmine" | Real Fine Place | - | 37 | - |
| 2006 | "You'll Always Be My Baby" | Real Fine Place | 105B | 13 | - |
| 2006 | "Missing Missouri"C | Real Fine Place | - | 52 | - |
- A"A Real Fine Place To Start" also peaked at #67 on the Pop 100.
- BChart position on Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
- CAlbum cut.