When Trisha Yearwood left her home state of Georgia to attend college in Nashville during the mid-1980s, she had no idea it would mark the beginning of an influential and lasting music career. After landing a job at a record label, she started recording demo tapes and providing backing vocals for other artists.
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During that time, she forged a creative friendship with rising artist Garth Brooks, who was determined to help her cultivate a career of her own. Soon after, Yearwood inked a record deal with MCA Records and released her debut self-titled record in 1991.
[RELATED: 3 Songs You Didn’t Know Trisha Yearwood Wrote for Other Artists]
Over the past three decades, Trisha Yearwood has become one of modern country music’s most celebrated artists. She’s won multiple CMA, ACM, and Grammy Awards, become a Grand Ole Opry member, and released 15 studio albums. Yearwood, who has been married to Brooks since 2005, has published multiple best-selling books, hosted her own cooking show, and made numerous television and film appearances.
Although Yearwood is one of the genre’s most respected voices, she has surprisingly only earned 5 No. 1 hits on country radio. Many of her most recognized singles, including “The Song Remembers When” and “Walkaway Joe” featuring Don Henley, just missed the top of the charts, peaking at No. 2.
Let’s take a look at the incredible Trisha Yearwood number one hits that climbed all the way to the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart during the 1990s:
5. “Thinkin’ About You”
“Thinkin’ About You” is a laid-back, romantic tune from 1995 that mixes dreamy piano, punchy percussion, and soaring slide guitar from fellow 90s country hitmaker Lee Roy Parnell. The track also offers a glimpse into the crossover-friendly sound that Yearwood would further embrace as the decade rolls on.
4. “Believe Me Baby (I Lied)”
In 1996, Yearwood snagged her fourth career No. 1 hit with “Believe Me Baby (I Lied),” a plea for forgiveness from a lover who regrets her choice to leave a relationship. The track, co-written by Kim Richey, Larry Gottlieb, and Angelo Petraglia, was featured on Yearwood’s CMA Award-winning album Everybody Knows.
3. “Perfect Love”
Yearwood’s final chart-topper of the 1990s, “Perfect Love,” is a fun, energetic celebration of the simple moments shared between two lovers. The toe-tapping cut was one of three new tracks on the singer’s No. 1 greatest hits compilation, (Songbook) A Collection of Hits, released in 1997.
2. “XXX’s and OOO’s (an American Girl)”
Penned by hit country songwriters Matraca Berg and Alice Randall, “XXX’s and OOO’s (an American Girl)” is an upbeat and irresistibly catchy celebration of girlhood. Released to radio in 1994 as the second single from Yearwood’s fifth studio album, Thinkin’ About You, the track has become one of the country singer’s trademark songs, becoming the theme for her long-running television cooking show, Trisha’s Southern Kitchen.
1. “She’s In Love with the Boy”
One of the most iconic country songs of the 1990s, “She’s In Love with the Boy,” helped Trisha Yearwood launch onto the scene as her debut single. The heartfelt story about two teenagers determined to be together, no matter what, won over listeners who helped take the track to No. 1 less than three months after its release to country radio in 1991.
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