10 Things You May Not Know About Faith Hill
How much do you know about this "Mississippi Girl?"
After releasing her first album back in 1993, Faith Hill quickly became one of the biggest stars in country music. In the years that came after, she became a household name, building a musical empire that transcends genre. Hill and her husband Tim McGraw have also built a joint legacy, releasing hit duets and playing countless shows together. Hill has also lent her talent to the big screen on many occasions.
While it’s easy to think you have learned everything about Hill throughout her almost 30-year career, there are still some facts about her that are lesser known. Here are 10 things you may not know about Faith Hill.
- She was adopted.
Hill, whose real name is Audrey Faith Perry, was adopted as an infant by Edna and Ted Perry. The Perrys raised Hill and her adoptive siblings in Star, Mississippi, outside of Jackson. Hill’s mystery past did not stay hidden forever though, as she got the chance to meet her birth mother in the early ‘90s. She told People about the experience in 2000.
“The first time I met her I just stared at her,” she said. “I’d never seen anybody that looked anything like me. It was the awe of seeing someone you came from. It fills something.”
2. She got to witness Elvis Presley perform live.
Everyone remembers their first concert, and Hill’s first concert is something she’ll likely never forget. She was lucky enough to witness a performance from the great Elvis Presley at the State Fair Coliseum in Jackson, Mississippi a couple of years before he passed away. She has said that, even as a young girl, she was highly impressed by the performance from “The King,” and she has credited him for inspiring her to pursue a career in music.
3. She used to perform for prisoners.
Hill started singing in front of audiences at a young age. Her first performance was at a 4-H event, she often performed at local churches, and as a teenager, she performed at rodeos. However, she would also perform somewhere a little less traditional — the county jail. Hill said in her 2001 biography, Piece Of My Heart, that she would often visit prisoners to sing “Amazing Grace,” read a bible verse and talk to them about her life or share her testimony. In the book, she said she believed in the justice system, but still felt “really sad” for the inmates.
4. She could have been in Reba McEntire’s band.
At age 19, Hill decided to take the next step in her journey towards becoming a country singer by moving to Nashville, Tennessee. Once she got there, she auditioned to become a backup singer for Reba McEntire, but didn’t get the job. She told Larry King that she didn’t get it because she “wasn’t a great background singer.” She did end up getting a job at a music publishing firm, and it was there that she was able to take the next step in her career.
5. She got her big break from singing to herself at work.
Many artists have interesting stories when it comes to how they got their first break into the business. It is often a case of “right place, right time,” and Hill’s story is no different. Her big opportunity came after her boss at the music publishing firm heard her singing to herself at work. He then encouraged her to sing demos for the firm, which led to an opportunity to sing backup vocals for Gary Burr at the legendary Bluebird Café. One of those performances was attended by Warner Bros. Records executive Martha Sharp, who offered Hill a record deal.
6. She worked at McDonald’s.
While Hill’s job at the music publishing firm eventually landed her a record deal, she’s also worked her fair share of jobs that weren’t so beneficial. She revealed through a tweet in 2012 that her very first job was at McDonald’s. Apparently she wasn’t a fan of the job though, as she also tweeted that she only “lasted two weeks.” Although she left her job at McDonald’s in the dust, she did end up seeing her old McDonald’s boss again while she was shooting a movie called Dixieland in Pearl, Mississippi.
“Actually, my first job was working at McDonald’s, and the car that we were using on set was owned by my first boss,” she told the Hollywood Reporter. “I hadn’t seen him in 25 or 30 years!”
7. She has an extensive movie and television career.
Most fans know that Hill has done some acting, such as in Dixieland, but some may forget just how extensive her acting background is. Hill made her acting debut back in 1997 when she appeared on three episodes of the CBS drama, Touched By An Angel. She also appeared in the show’s spin-off, Promised Land. She almost took a leading role in Mel Gibson’s 2002 blockbuster, We Were Soldiers, but the role went to Madeline Stowe instead. Hill made her movie debut acting alongside Nicole Kidman in the 2004 movie, The Stepford Wives. Hill’s television expertise also goes beyond acting, as she served as the Executive Producer for Pickler & Ben, a syndicated daytime talk show hosted by Kellie Pickler and Ben Aaron that ran for more than two years.
8. Tim McGraw proposed to her in a simple, but very sweet way.
Faith and Tim McGraw will go down as one of the most legendary country couples, and they have a cute engagement story that McGraw told for the first time in 2015. The two started their relationship after touring together, and his proposal was like a scene out of a country song.
“I’d joked around with her about getting married. So I looked at her, I grabbed her by the hands before I went onstage,” McGraw said. “She had already done her show. And I said, “I’m really serious. I want you to marry me.”
He says Hill laughed it off at first, wondering if he was really proposing in their trailer at a country music festival. When he came back from his set, however, she had written her answer in sharpie on the mirror: “Yes, I’m going to be your wife. I love you.”
9. Her early gigs were not all glamorous.
Many of Hill’s early shows were at churches and rodeos, but when she was 16, she played an odd show that she’ll never forget. The event was a “tobacco spit,” a competition in which people simply try to spit into a spittoon. As one could probably guess, not everyone was accurate, and many of the “shots” ended up on the stage, which was then cleaned with a towel before Hill’s performance. Although she admits it was “really gross,” the singer stayed positive, saying she was “still grateful to be there.”
10. She has worked for many charitable causes.
Hill and McGraw have both built incredibly successful careers in country music, but the singers also give back whenever they can and have been involved in numerous charitable causes over the years. In 1999, Hill’s tour supported The Faith Hill Family Literacy Project, where fans donated 35,000 books that were sent to libraries, hospitals and schools across the country. Hill and McGraw also played an active role in helping in the relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina, and they played charity concerts for the cause. They also set up the Neighbor’s Keeper Foundation, which supported local charities helping those who were displaced by the disaster. And after the major flood that hit Nashville in 2010, Hill and McGraw hosted Nashville Rising, a charity concert that raised funds for The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
