On this day (September 23) in 1993, Faith Hill released “Wild One” as the lead single from her debut album Take Me As I Am. A little more than three months later, it went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The song occupied the top spot for four consecutive weeks.
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Reaching the top of the country chart with a debut single is rare. Relatively few artists have done so in the history of the genre. However, due to the male dominance of country music, it is less common to see a woman achieve the feat. Two years before Hill launched her debut, Trisha Yearwood made headlines as the first to hit No. 1 with a debut single in 18 years. As a result, “Wild One” helped cement Hill’s place country’s newest A-list artist.
[RELATED: 8 Faith Hill Songs Every ’90s Country Fan Knows By Heart]
Faith Hill’s Sustained Success
Many country artists who found success in the 1990s have since fallen out of favor with the genre’s contemporary fans. Hill, however, is one of a handful of artists who have been able to sustain chart and commercial success for the last three decades. She has released 34 singles to the country chart, and all of them have peaked within the top 40. 24 were top 10 hits, nine of those went to No. 1.
Two of her songs, “One” and “Baby You Belong,” were not included in the country chart. The former was released only to the Adult Contemporary chart, where it peaked at No. 7. The latter was only released in Japan as a promotional single for the animated film Lilo & Stitch. All seven of her solo studio albums have been top 10 hits. This includes a Christmas album. Typically, holiday albums are less successful than regular albums. However, Hill seemingly turns everything she touches into Gold or Platinum. This is evidenced by her six multi-Platinum LPs and one Gold LP.
Faith Hill was not content to be one of the biggest stars in country music. She also crossed over into a successful acting career. One year after releasing her debut single, she appeared in three episodes of Touched by an Angel. A decade later, she made her big-screen debut in The Stepford Wives. Most recently, she co-starred with her husband, Tim McGraw, in the Yellowstone prequel, 1883.
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