Lari White
Encyclopedia
Lari Michele White is an American country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist and actress. She first gained national attention in 1992 as a winner on You Can Be a Star, a talent competition which aired on The Nashville Network. A recording contract with RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

 Nashville followed a year later, producing three studio albums, a greatest hits package, and several chart singles. A fourth studio album was released in 1998 on Lyric Street Records
Lyric Street Records
Lyric Street Records was an American record label specializing in country music. The label was part of the Disney Music Group, owned by the The Walt Disney Company. President Randy Goodman, formerly a general manager for RCA Records, founded the label in 1997...

, followed by two more releases on White's own label, Skinny White Girl. Overall, White has charted twelve times on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

country music charts, with three of her singles having reached Top Ten: "That's My Baby" and "That's How You Know (When You're In Love)" at #10, and "Now I Know" at #5.

Biography

Lari Michele White was born May 13, 1965 in Dunedin, Florida
Dunedin, Florida
Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The population was 35,691 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 36,632...

. As a child, she sang in her family's gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 group, The White Family Singers, which comprised her parents, sister, and brother. White sang at talent contests and performed in a local rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band as well. She later studied vocals and music engineering at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

 Frost School of Music
Frost School of Music
The Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music or Frost School of Music of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, known from 1926 to 2003 as University of Miami School of Music, is a music school in the United States....

, and while in college, she started to write her own music and perform in local clubs.

Musical career

White made her first national appearance in 1988 on the talent show You Can Be a Star on The Nashville Network (now known as Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...

), where she won first prize, which included a recording contract with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

. Although her debut single "Flying Above the Rain" received airplay in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

, it failed to chart and White was dropped from Capitol's roster without releasing anything else.

She later joined a publishing house owned by Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s...

 and began to take acting lessons, eventually performing at local dinner theater
Dinner theater
Dinner theater is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. Sometimes the play is incidental entertainment, secondary to the meal, in the style of a sophisticated night club, or the play may be a major production with dinner less important, or in some...

s. After attending an ASCAP showcase in 1991, she was invited by Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell is a Grammy Award-winning musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music....

 to sing in his backing band. White was then signed in 1992 to RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

, releasing her debut album Lead Me Not
Lead Me Not
Lead Me Not is the debut album of American country music artist Lari White. It was issued in 1993 on the Nashville division of RCA Records. White produced the album along with Rodney Crowell and Eagles guitarist Steuart Smith...

a year later. The album, produced by Crowell, included three singles: "What a Woman Wants", the title track, and "Lay Around and Love on You". All three of these singles entered the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

country charts, and although none reached Top 40, the album peaked at #36 on the Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...

 charts.

White's breakthrough album, Wishes
Wishes (album)
Wishes is the second studio album released by American country music artist Lari White. Released in June 1994, it contains three singles: "That's My Baby", "Now I Know", and "That's How You Know ", all of which were Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...

, followed one year later. This was her most commercially successful album, producing three consecutive Top Ten country hits in "That's My Baby", "Now I Know", and "That's How You Know (When You're In Love)", which respectively reached #10, #5, and #10. The album was a #1 album on Top Heatseekers and #24 on Top Country Albums, and was certified gold by the RIAA for U.S. shipments of 500,000 copies.

Don't Fence Me In
Don't Fence Me In (album)
Don't Fence Me In is the third studio album released by American country music artist Lari White. The album was released on February 16, 1996. The album produced two chart singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts: "Ready, Willing, and Able", which peaked at #20, and "Wild at...

was the title of White's third RCA release, with the title track being a cover of the Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

-written song made famous by The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...

. Its lead-off single was "Ready, Willing and Able", which was previously recorded by Daron Norwood
Daron Norwood
Daron Norwood is an American country music singer. Signed to Giant Records in 1993, he released two albums for the label and charted six singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His singles "If It Wasn't For Her I Wouldn't Have You" and "Cowboys Don't Cry" both made the country Top 40...

 in 1995 as the title track to his second album. White's rendition of the song was a Top 20 hit in 1996, although the only other single from the album did not reach Top 40. In 1997, White also sang duet vocals on Travis Tritt
Travis Tritt
James Travis Tritt is an American country music singer from Marietta, Georgia. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 2000s, he released two albums on Columbia Records and one for the defunct...

's single "Helping Me Get Over You", a release from his album The Restless Kind
The Restless Kind
The Restless Kind is the American artist Travis Tritt's fifth album, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1996. The tracks "More Than You'll Ever Know", "Helping Me Get over You" , "She's Going Home with Me", and "Where Corn Don't Grow" were released as singles, all peaking in the Top 40 on the...

. 1997 also saw White's final release for RCA, a greatest hits package called The Best of Lari White
The Best of Lari White
The Best of Lari White is a compilation album, released in 1997, by American country music artist Lari White. It is composed mainly of tracks from her first three albums for RCA: Lead Me Not , Wishes , and Don't Fence Me In...

which reprised all of her singles to that point including the Tritt duet, as well as two newly-recorded tracks, and the non-single "Itty Bitty Single Solitary Piece 'o My Heart", from her debut album.

White's third recording contract came in 1998 when she signed to Lyric Street Records
Lyric Street Records
Lyric Street Records was an American record label specializing in country music. The label was part of the Disney Music Group, owned by the The Walt Disney Company. President Randy Goodman, formerly a general manager for RCA Records, founded the label in 1997...

. Her first release for the label was the single "Stepping Stone", which was also the title track to her fourth studio album
Stepping Stone (album)
Stepping Stone is the fourth studio album released by American country music artist Lari White. Released on July 28, 1998 as her first album for Lyric Street Records after leaving RCA Nashville...

. This song became not only a Top 20 country hit, but also her only entry on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, where it peaked at #73. Following it were "Take Me" at #32 and "John Wayne Walking Away" at #64. Also included on this album were two songs that would later become singles for other artists: "Only God (Could Stop Me Loving You)
Only God (Could Stop Me Loving You)
"Only God " is the title of a country music song written by pop and rock songwriter Robert John "Mutt" Lange. It was originally recorded by Billy Ray Cyrus for his 1994 album Storm in the Heartland, but not released as a single....

", which she recorded as a duet with Toby Keith
Toby Keith
Toby Keith Covel , best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin, plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of...

, had previously been a cut on Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus
William "Billy" Ray Cyrus is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor and philanthropist, who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon...

's 1994 album Storm in the Heartland
Storm in the Heartland
Storm in the Heartland is the third album from country music artist Billy Ray Cyrus. Released in 1994 on Mercury Records, it produced the singles "Storm in the Heartland", "Deja Blue", and "One Last Thrill", the first two of which entered the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...

and would later become a minor hit in 2003 for the Canadian band Emerson Drive
Emerson Drive
Emerson Drive is a country music band founded in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada in 1995. The band is Brad Mates , Danick Dupelle , Mike Melancon , Dale Wallace , and David Pichette .Early on, the band found minor success in Canada, releasing two albums under the name of 12 Gauge, the first Open...

, while "Flies on the Butter" was also a minor hit in 2004 for Wynonna Judd
Wynonna Judd
Wynonna Ellen Judd is an American country music singer. Her solo albums and singles are all credited to the singular name Wynonna. Wynonna first rose to fame in the 1980s alongside her mother, Naomi, in the country music duo The Judds...

, who recorded it as a duet with mother Naomi
Naomi Judd
Naomi Judd is an American country music singer, songwriter, and activist.-Personal life:She was born Diana Ellen Judd to Charles Glen Judd and his wife Pauline Judd on January 11, 1946, in Ashland, Kentucky. Her father owned a gas station; her mother started out as a homemaker but later became a...

 on her 2003 album What the World Needs Now Is Love
What the World Needs Now Is Love (album)
What the World Needs Now Is Love is the title of American country music artist Wynonna Judd's sixth studio album. Released in 2003 as her first album for Asylum-Curb Records, the album produced four chart singles. The first of these, which was the title track, reached #14 on the Billboard country...

. She debuted a cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

 production in 2007 called My First Affair
My First Affair
My First Affair was a cabaret show and the soundtrack later released by American Broadway-country-gospel artist Lari White.-Show:The cabaret show was at the Oak Room Cabaret at The Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan, New York City on February 12, 2007. The show included a mix of pop, country, gospel and...

.

White also appeared in the final scene of the 2000 film Cast Away
Cast Away
Cast Away is a 2000 drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks as a FedEx employee stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in the South Pacific. The film depicts his successful attempts to survive on the island using remnants of his plane's cargo, as well as his...

as "Bettina", the woman Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...

 meets who gives him road directions. After the film she placed her musical career on hiatus. She returned in 2004 with the self-released album Green Eyed Soul. She also co-produced Billy Dean
Billy Dean
William Harold "Billy" Dean, Jr. is an American country music singer and songwriter. Billy Dean first gained national attention after appearing on the television talent competition Star Search...

's 2004 album Let Them Be Little
Let Them Be Little
Let Them Be Little is the seventh studio album by American country music singer Billy Dean. His first album since Real Man seven years previous, it is also his first release on the Asylum-Curb label...

and Toby Keith's 2005 album White Trash with Money
White Trash with Money
White Trash with Money is the eleventh album by country music superstar Toby Keith, which was released on April 11, 2006. It is Keith's first album on his own Show Dog Nashville label. The album shipped platinum, meaning one million or more units were distributed to outlets ahead of its release.It...

. White also co-wrote Sarah Buxton
Sarah Buxton (Singer)
Sarah Buxton is an American country music artist, formerly signed to the independent Lyric Street Records...

's late-2008 single "Space".

In 2006, she was an original cast member of the Broadway musical Ring of Fire
Ring of Fire (musical)
Ring of Fire is a jukebox musical based on the music of Johnny Cash.It opened on Broadway on at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on March 12, 2006. Due to poor reviews and critical reception, as well as low ticket sales, the final performances were in April 2006, only one month after opening.-External...

.

Family

White is married to songwriter Chuck Cannon
Chuck Cannon
Charles Marion "Chuck" Cannon, Jr. is an American country music songwriter. His compositions include hit singles for Toby Keith and John Michael Montgomery. Cannon has also received awards for Broadcast Music Incorporated, as well as an Academy of Country Music award for Song of the Year...

. They have two daughters, M'Kenzy and Kyra Ciel, and a son, Jaxon.

Albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


(sales thresholds)
US Country US
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

US Heat
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...

Lead Me Not
Lead Me Not
Lead Me Not is the debut album of American country music artist Lari White. It was issued in 1993 on the Nashville division of RCA Records. White produced the album along with Rodney Crowell and Eagles guitarist Steuart Smith...

  • Release date: April 27, 1993
  • Label: RCA Nashville
    RCA Records
    RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

36
Wishes
Wishes (album)
Wishes is the second studio album released by American country music artist Lari White. Released in June 1994, it contains three singles: "That's My Baby", "Now I Know", and "That's How You Know ", all of which were Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...

  • Release date: June 14, 1994
  • Label: RCA Nashville
  • 24 125 1
  • US
    Recording Industry Association of America
    The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

    : Gold
  • Don't Fence Me In
    Don't Fence Me In (album)
    Don't Fence Me In is the third studio album released by American country music artist Lari White. The album was released on February 16, 1996. The album produced two chart singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts: "Ready, Willing, and Able", which peaked at #20, and "Wild at...

  • Release date: February 16, 1996
  • Label: RCA Nashville
  • 53 30
    The Best of Lari White
    The Best of Lari White
    The Best of Lari White is a compilation album, released in 1997, by American country music artist Lari White. It is composed mainly of tracks from her first three albums for RCA: Lead Me Not , Wishes , and Don't Fence Me In...

  • Release date: January 28, 1997
  • Label: RCA Nashville
  • Stepping Stone
    Stepping Stone (album)
    Stepping Stone is the fourth studio album released by American country music artist Lari White. Released on July 28, 1998 as her first album for Lyric Street Records after leaving RCA Nashville...

  • Release date: July 28, 1998
  • Label: Lyric Street Records
    Lyric Street Records
    Lyric Street Records was an American record label specializing in country music. The label was part of the Disney Music Group, owned by the The Walt Disney Company. President Randy Goodman, formerly a general manager for RCA Records, founded the label in 1997...

  • 50 38
    Green Eyed Soul
  • Release date: May 10, 2004
  • Label: Skinny White Girl
  • My First Affair
    My First Affair
    My First Affair was a cabaret show and the soundtrack later released by American Broadway-country-gospel artist Lari White.-Show:The cabaret show was at the Oak Room Cabaret at The Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan, New York City on February 12, 2007. The show included a mix of pop, country, gospel and...

    (soundtrack)
  • Release date: 2007
  • Label: Skinny White Girl
  • "—" denotes releases that did not chart

    Singles

    Year Single Peak chart positions Album
    US Country
    Hot Country Songs
    Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

    US
    Billboard Hot 100
    The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

    CAN Country
    RPM (magazine)
    RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

    1988 "Flying Above the Rain" single only
    1993 "What a Woman Wants" 44 39 Lead Me Not
    "Lead Me Not" 47 63
    "Lay Around and Love on You" 68 72
    1994 "That's My Baby
    That's My Baby (song)
    "That's My Baby" is a single by American country music artist Lari White. Released in 1994, it was the first single from the album Wishes. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart performance:...

    "
    10 23 Wishes
    "Now I Know
    Now I Know
    "Now I Know" is a single by American country music artist Lari White. Released in 1994, it was the second single from the album Wishes. The song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.- Chart performance :...

    "
    5 22
    1995 "That's How You Know (When You're in Love)
    That's How You Know (When You're in Love)
    "That's How You Know " is a single by American country music artist Lari White. Released in 1995, it was the third single from the album Wishes. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart....

    "
    10 18
    "White Christmas
    White Christmas
    A white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere...

    "
    Country Christmas, Volume V
    1996 "Ready, Willing, and Able" 20 14 Don't Fence Me In
    "Wild at Heart" 52 80
    1998 "Stepping Stone
    Stepping Stone (Lari White song)
    "Stepping Stone" is a single by American country music artist Lari White. Released in 1998, it was the first single and title track from the album Stepping Stone. The song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart....

    "
    16 73 10 Stepping Stone
    1999 "Take Me" 32 125 27
    "John Wayne Walking Away" 64
    2004 "Nothing but Love" Green Eyed Soul
    "—" denotes releases that did not chart

    Guest singles

    Year Single Artist Peak chart
    positions
    Album
    US Country
    Hot Country Songs
    Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

    CAN Country
    RPM (magazine)
    RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

    1997 "Helping Me Get Over You" Travis Tritt
    Travis Tritt
    James Travis Tritt is an American country music singer from Marietta, Georgia. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 2000s, he released two albums on Columbia Records and one for the defunct...

    18 21 The Restless Kind
    The Restless Kind
    The Restless Kind is the American artist Travis Tritt's fifth album, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1996. The tracks "More Than You'll Ever Know", "Helping Me Get over You" , "She's Going Home with Me", and "Where Corn Don't Grow" were released as singles, all peaking in the Top 40 on the...


    Music videos

    Year Video Director
    1993 "What a Woman Wants" Joanne Gardner
    "Lead Me Not"
    1994 "That's My Baby" Steven Goldmann
    Steven Goldmann
    Steven Goldmann is a Canadian music video and film director. He has directed over 200 music videos. Goldmann also directed the movies Broken Bridges and Trailer Park of Terror, and has additionally directed several television programs.-1990-1999:...

    "Now I Know"
    1995 "That's How You Know (When You're In Love)"
    "White Christmas"
    1996 "Wild at Heart" Michael Salomon
    Michael Salomon
    Michael Salomon is a music video/film director, who has directed many music videos, including many of Toby Keith's music videos...

    1997 "Helping Me Get Over You" (with Travis Tritt
    Travis Tritt
    James Travis Tritt is an American country music singer from Marietta, Georgia. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 2000s, he released two albums on Columbia Records and one for the defunct...

    )
    Michael Merriman
    1999 "Take Me" Peter Zavadil
    Peter Zavadil
    Peter Zavadil is a music video director who works primarily in the field of country music. He has directed many music videos since the late 1990s.-Music videos directed:109 music videos are currently listed here.-References:...

    2004 "Nothing But Love" Dani Jacobs
    Dani Jacobs
    -Background:Jacobs was born in London. He went to University of Manchester to study Physics but left to pursue his interests in Film.He worked at the The Haçienda nightclub as a resident filmmaker and VJ, creating visuals and lighting effects to project in the club space...


    External links

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