Victoria Shaw

Victoria Lynn Shaw (born July 13, 1962) is an American country singer. She has recorded four studio albums, and has charted five singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. In addition, she has co-written four Number One singles for other country music artists, including Garth Brooks' "The River" as featured on the multi-million selling album Ropin' The Wind and John Michael Montgomery's "I Love the Way You Love Me", which won the 1993 Academy of Country Music award for Song of the Year. With Paul Worley, she is also the co-producer of the debut album of Lady A. Biography Shaw was born in Manhattan, New York City, on July 13, 1962. Inspired by country rock musicians such as the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, she began writing songs at an early age. Later, she and her sister, Lori Shaw, found work performing together in the Los Angeles area. Shaw's mother, Carole Bergenthal, recorded for Capitol Records as Carole Bennett. The Shaws moved to California when Shaw was about five years old. Her mother, who was Jewish, would sing Yiddish lullabies to her. By age thirteen, Shaw had founded a band called Solace, which performed at weddings and bar mitzvahs. Eventually, Shaw moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where she found a publishing contract and a record deal. A minor single, "Break My Heart", was released in 1984 on the MPB label, peaking at No. 61 on the Hot Country Songs charts. Her first major hit as a songwriter came in 1992, when she co-wrote with Garth Brooks "The River" which Brooks took to No. 1 on the Billboard country singles chart. A year later, Doug Stone reached No. 1 on the country charts with Shaw's "Too Busy Being in Love". Later that same year, another Shaw-penned song — John Michael Montgomery's "I Love the Way You Love Me" — also reached No. 1 the country charts and won an Academy of Country Music award for Song of the Year. In 1994, Shaw signed to Reprise Records, releasing her debut album In Full View that year. Three of this album's singles — "Cry Wolf", "Tears Dry" and "Forgiveness" — all reached the lower regions of the Hot Country Songs charts. That same year, Brooks reached Number One with the song "She's Every Woman" which the two wrote together. In 1995, Shaw received a Top New Female Vocalist nomination from the Academy of Country Music, losing to Chely Wright.