Lee Ann Womack

Early life

Lee Ann Womack was born in Jacksonville, Texas, to Ann and Aubrey Womack. Her father worked as a principal for Jacksonville Middle School and as a disc jockey for KEBE and KOOI, while her mother was a schoolteacher. Womack developed an early interest in country music, often accompanying her father to KEBE and helping select records for airplay. She studied piano as a child and graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1984.

She then attended South Plains Junior College in Levelland, Texas, which was among the first U.S. colleges to offer country music degrees, and toured with the college band Country Caravan. After a year, she left and enrolled at Belmont College in Nashville, Tennessee, where she studied the commercial side of the music business and interned at the A&R department of MCA Nashville. In 1988, she won the non-finalist talent award at the Miss Tennessee pageant as Miss Nashville, and the following year she was third runner-up at the Miss Texas State Railroad pageant.

In July 1990, she competed in the Miss Texas pageant as Miss Northeast Texas. Around that time, she left Belmont and married Jason Sellers. After raising her daughter Aubrie, Womack returned to the music industry in the mid-1990s. In 1995, she performed in songwriting demos and showcase concerts attended by talent scouts.

Pat McMakin signed her to Sony/ATV Music Publishing's Tree International Publishing after hearing "Am I the Only Thing That You've Done Wrong", a song she co-wrote with Sellers. She wrote with songwriters including Bill Anderson and Ricky Skaggs, who later recorded her composition "I Don't Remember Forgetting" for his 1997 album. After divorcing Sellers, she decided to pursue a career as a country artist. She auditioned for MCA chairman Bruce Hinton, who praised her talents, and accepted a contract from Decca Nashville in 1996.

Music career

Womack released her self-titled debut album on Decca in May 1997, produced by Mark Wright. The lead single "Never Again, Again" peaked at number 23 on Billboard Hot Country Songs. The second single "The Fool" reached number two, followed by "You've Got to Talk to Me" at number two and "Buckaroo" at number 27. "The Fool" and "You've Got to Talk to Me" also made the top 10 on RPM Country Tracks in Canada. The album received an "A" rating from Entertainment Weekly, and AllMusic noted Wright's production as slick and professional.