Shelby Lynne

Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album I Am Shelby Lynne (1999) led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, despite it being her sixth studio album. She released a Dusty Springfield tribute album called Just a Little Lovin' in 2008. Since then she has started her own independent record label, called Everso Records, and released six albums: Tears, Lies and Alibis; Merry Christmas; Revelation Road; Thanks; I Can't Imagine; and Shelby Lynne. Lynne is also known for her distinctive contralto voice. Early life Shelby Lynne was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Jackson, Alabama, then Mobile, where she attended Theodore High School. Music was an important part of the Moorer family. Her father was a local bandleader and her mother a harmony-singing teacher; as children, she and her younger sister Allison — later a country recording artist in her own right — sometimes joined their parents on-stage to sing along. However, Lynne's father was a violent alcoholic who abused his wife. In 1985, her mother fled with the two girls to Mobile. Her father soon discovered their whereabouts. In 1986, when Lynne was 17 and her sister was 14, he fatally shot her mother in the family's driveway. He then turned the gun on himself while his daughters were in the house. Career Early years Lynne appeared on TNN's country music show Nashville Now in 1987. She soon landed a recording contract with Epic Records. Her first recording for Epic was a duet with George Jones, "If I Could Bottle This Up", which became a top-50 hit in 1988. Epic teamed Lynne with producer Billy Sherrill for her 1989 debut album Sunrise. The follow-up, 1990's Tough All Over, took more of a mainstream country direction, and 1991's Soft Talk found Lynne moving into slick country pop.