How Faith Hill Got Discovered by an Eavesdropping Coworker

With over 30 million records sold worldwide, 13 No. 1 singles under her belt, five Grammy awards, three CMAs, and 12 ACMs, Faith Hill is easily one of country music’s biggest superstars. However, this powerhouse comes from humble beginnings, and her story starts in the small town of Star, Mississippi.

Videos by American Songwriter

Faith, whose full name is Audrey Faith Perry, was adopted by Edna and Ted Perry in 1967. As a child, Faith found a love for singing. Then, at 19, she dropped out of college and moved to Nashville, Tennessee. She told ABC that she felt rather lost at this time.

“There was a period of time when I first moved to Nashville, like the first couple of years, that I was just simply lost,” she admitted. “I didn’t know who I was; I didn’t know really what I was doing here. I was meant to be a singer, but I just felt lost. 

Faith would work a series of odd jobs until she landed a position at country singer Gary Morris’ publishing company. It was there that she would be discovered by one of her coworkers, who overheard her singing to herself. According to the Magnolia Tribune, this led her to work as a demo singer until she was discovered by a record executive at the Bluebird Cafe. They would offer her a deal shortly after.

Then, in 1993, Faith would release her debut album Take Me As I Am.

Faith Hill Lied About Being a Singer To Get a Job in Nashville

In a 1993 interview, Faith Hill shared that she’d actually lied when she got the job at Gary’s company.

“The very beginning at Gary’s office, I did try to hide [that I was a singer],” she shared. “I had unsuccessfully gone and looked for jobs, you know, at other places in the music industry, and they really didn’t want a singer, you know.” 

Before working as a receptionist, Faith sold shirts for Fan Fare, which she described as “Music City USA” T-shirts. When she was looking to get the receptionist job, she knew talking about her real ambitions wouldn’t get her in the door. So, a young Faith Hill told them, “No, I don’t sing!”

“I worked there for about a year as a closet singer,” she admitted.

It didn’t take long for Hill’s gifts to eventually be discovered by the label head and the rest of the world in time. 

Photo by: Doug Pensinger/ALLSPORT/Online USA, Inc./Liaison Agency