Kellie Pickler is everything that's right about that uniquely
modern place where reality and celebrity come together. She is first and
foremost a force of nature, a young woman who followed a restless
small-town dream to the upper reaches of the music world. She came armed
with real talent, for she is a singer who has learned well from idols
like Tammy, Patsy, Loretta and Dolly. Still, it takes much more to enter
the cultural consciousness as firmly and unmistakably as she has, and
Kellie brings more in spades.
It starts with star quality, that undefinable but clearly
identifiable trait she possesses in abundance. She combines beauty, wit,
humor and guilelessness in a way that has attracted fans from her first
days in the national spotlight, and she has proven over and over that
there is a great deal of substance under the blond-haired, light-hearted
exterior.
Kellie established herself quickly as both a singer and a songwriter
to be reckoned with, co-writing her first hit, "Red High Heels," her
first gold single. Her debut album, Small Town Girl, produced two
follow-up hits -- the poignant "I Wonder," which she also co-wrote, and
the light-hearted "Things That Never Cross A Man's Mind." Together, they
propelled the release to near-platinum status.
Her second album, Kellie Pickler, for which she co-wrote half
the songs, spawned the uplifting "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" and
"Best Days of Your Life." The latter, co-written by Kellie with Taylor
Swift, quickly became the biggest hit of her career, rising to the Top
Ten and earning gold in digital sales. In fact, the song speaks volumes
about Kellie's life in that her close friendship with Swift, like her
friendship with another co-writer, Aimee Mayo, has helped her with the
process of seamlessly turning the ups and downs of her life into
compelling art.
Just how far those hits and that 24-carat personality have carried
her can be seen in even a short list of her achievements. She won three
2008 CMT Music Awards -- Breakthrough Video, Tearjerker Video and
Performance of the Year -- all for "I Wonder," and has earned many other
award nominations. She has received two ASCAP awards citing "Red High
Heels" and "I Wonder" as among the most performed country songs of the
year. Both her albums debuted #1 country and Top Ten overall in
Billboard, a feat equaled by only six other females in country music .
She has hosted The View, graced the cover of USA Weekend, and served as
correspondent in Times Square for "Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve" with Ryan
Seacrest to usher in 2009.
A straight shooter with an infectious zest for life, Kellie has
learned to balance her "leap now, look later" disposition and her need
to oversee her life and career as she lives out her lifelong desire to
control her own destiny. In fact, lest anyone be tempted to
underestimate her, it's worth remembering that in a brief time, Kellie
went from a 19-year-old with a troubled home life to a young woman
running a multi-million-dollar business -- "the Kellie Pickler Company,"
as she calls it -- handling all the challenges and responsibilities of
fame in a fast-paced world.
Kellie's dream took root in Albemarle, North Carolina, where
determination and optimism were her answers to an often tough and
uncertain childhood. Raised by her grandparents, she developed the
spirit of an inveterate dreamer. With her uncanny ability to temper
tough realities with humor, she says, referring to her tour bus, "As a
child I thought, 'I'm going to be a big country star and get out of this
damn trailer.' Then I go and get one. I mean, it's a million-dollar
trailer, but it's still a trailer!"
The first song she learned to sing was Hank Sr.’s “My Bucket’s Got a
Hole In It,” and the first music she owned was a George Strait tape. A
telling moment came when, just before her eighth birthday, she went with
her grandparents to visit her father.
“He was incarcerated,” she says, “but he had been talking to my
grandparents about helping get me a birthday present. He asked whether I
wanted a little TV for my bedroom or a little stereo. I said I wanted a
radio so I could listen to the country radio station. I always wanted to
be part of country music. I used to think the coolest thing in the world
would be to turn on the radio and hear, “Coming up, the new record from
Kellie Pickler.’”
She took part in a handful of talent contests, worked as a Sonic
waitress and studied to become a paralegal. Then, in the fall of 2005,
she auditioned in Greensboro, North Carolina, for American Idol. Her raw
talent and her attractive and unfiltered personality won her a legion of
fans, among them the sometimes jaundiced Simon Cowell.
She reached the show's Final 6, signed with BNA Records and recorded
her first album in whirlwind sessions sandwiched between dates on the
Idol tour. Its release established her firmly in the country
marketplace, and her breath-of-fresh-air personality did the rest.
A lifelong student of country music, she is a fan of legends
including Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard as well as modern-day talents
like Jamey Johnson and Lee Ann Womack. The lessons she draws from them
have become part of her artistic make-up.
“I write what my soul tells me to write,” she says. “I realized the
key to writing is just being true and writing what is real. It’s why
country music has such an impact. It’s music people relate to because
it’s about telling true stories.” She treats her singing the same way.
“I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t like to sing. It’s
a way of expressing who I am, and it’s therapeutic for me. It’s how I
express what I’m going through. People release their emotions, their
happiness or sadness, in different ways—dancing, painting, running. Mine
is singing. That and writing are healing for me.”
Kellie’s insulated upbringing left her with a thirst for travel,
adventure and self-development. An avid reader -- she can often be found
in her state room on her bus, curled up with a book or her Kindle II --
she is a walking advertisement for personal fulfillment. That has led
her to explore the world both out of curiosity and out of a desire to
take her talents where they can be of use to others.
“The USO tours I’ve been part of have definitely been the highlight
of my career and my life,” she says. “It has been the most impactful,
life-changing thing I’ve been able to do.”
Her first tour, to Iraq, became a moving GAC special, “My USO Diary,”
and she followed that with a trip to Germany, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo
and England. “The greatest way to learn is to travel,” she says. “There
are so many amazing people I’ve met that have changed my life for the
better. It’s something that can help us not be so judgmental and
close-minded.” She is above all a woman whose music, like her life, is a
gift to those around her.
“If I’ve learned anything,” she says, “it’s that we take so many
things for granted. I love it when something I read or someone I meet
makes me think, ‘You’ve got it made, girl.’ I don’t want to dwell on
what I don’t have. I want to appreciate life and the good things and
people I’m surrounded by. I know that’s good for the soul.”
