Top Country Singer Rankdown

[*Wallace]

Lucille Starr

 

 

For today's cut, I have decided on Lucille Starr. Lucille Starr was a Canadian singer, songwriter and songwriter who was from Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Canada. She has had a very long career in country music scene from 1958 to 2020. She also played various instruments such as guitar, bass, mandolin. She has released 12 albums from 1964 to 1991 with titles that include: The French Song, Say You Love Me, Remember Me, Side by Side, Back to You, among others. Some of her more well known singles also include: "The French Song," "Jolie Jacqueline," "Crazy Arms," "Too Far Gone," "Cajun Love," "Sock It to Satan," "The First Time I've Been in Love" and many others. I don't really know Lucille Starr so I just learned all of this now and hope you all enjoyed if you aren't familiar with Lucielle. Lucielle did sadly pass away on September 4, 2020 at 82 years old.

 

I will post "The French Song" below.

 

 

 

[~Tom~]

Not too familiar with Lucille. Maybe @*Chris can provide more details on her career and best known songs. 

[~Tom~]

1 hour ago, QueenKalie said:

 

 

 

Perhaps we’ll get a good divorce album from her like we did with Carly! 

[*Chris]

3 minutes ago, ~Tom~ said:

Not too familiar with Lucille. Maybe @*Chris can provide more details on her career and best known songs. 

She was added as a number and a fodder but that was a floip

[*Wallace]

5 minutes ago, ~Tom~ said:

Not too familiar with Lucille. Maybe @*Chris can provide more details on her career and best known songs. 

I was thinking that Chris may have been more familiar with her as well.

 

2 minutes ago, *Chris said:

She was added as a number and a fodder but that was a floip

LOL it's kinda crazy how these fodder choices are outlasting legends and current big stars.  

[QueenKalie]

16 minutes ago, ~Tom~ said:

Perhaps we’ll get a good divorce album from her like we did with Carly! 

Perhaps although I think the timing is a bit off for that as I doubt the album coming out next month has any of that on it. But maybe the next one might? Who knows. 

[QueenKalie]

New Danielle Bradbery song out probably on September 2nd which is this Friday.

 

 

 

[QueenKalie]

1 hour ago, QueenKalie said:

New Danielle Bradbery song out probably on September 2nd which is this Friday.

 

 

 

Ooo Maren Morris wrote this song so I bet it's going to be

[*Chris]

CHRIS' HONORARY WRITE-UP : SHANIA TWAIN

 

As you all know, I am die-hard fan of Shania Twain - this shouldn't be a surprise as I'm easily the target audience for Shania aka I am Canada & a gay male which is essentially the base of her fanbase - and seeing her being cut, this early, from the rankdown is truly one of the biggest robbery. She should have been the last singer standing, in this rankdown, as she had the biggest impact on the genre in the last 30 years more than anyone else.  As we stated earlier, in the thread, she has inspired a generation of Country Pop singers and none of them would have been able to achieved the success they have been to achieved without Shania Twain's opening the door & breaking the glass ceiling for them - the find out more about this, I'd recommend to checking-out her Netflix's documentary. On top of that, I would even argue that the landscape of Canadian country music would have been incredibly different without Shania Twain - she certainly inspired an generation of Canadian country singer, and I'd even argue that without her, it would have been harder for some of the Canadian country singers to breakthrough in the US market. 

With a career of almost 30 years, Shania Twain has sold more than 100 million of records - the only female artists to have three consecutive albums to be certified Diamonds by the RIAA. She received accolades after accolades; She has been awarded multiple awards including 5 ACM's - including EOTY in 2000, 2 CMA's - including EOTY in 1999, 33 Canadian Country Music Awards - I believe this might be the most for any Canadian Country singers, 13 Juno Awards - equivalent of the Grammy's in Canada, 6 American Music Awards, 11 Billboard Music Awards, and more than 27 BMI Songwriter Awards. She has also been inducted in the Canada Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and will be inducted in Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, later this year. And last but not least, she was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2005. 

 

Having seen Shania live, in 2015, I can absolutely confirm that she's definitely an entertainer & one of the best performer in the industry - I would absolutely love to see her again, perhaps in Vegas! And now, per my tradition, I will recap each one of her album / era ;

 

SHANIA TWAIN

 

After being signed by Mercury Nashville Records, Shania would eventually released her self-titled album in 1993 where she started getting known outside of Canada.  The album itself was not exactly a success story for Shania - it barely charted on the charts in Canada or in the US, despite the positive critics. Similar to the album, the singles released found little to none success ; But as Shania popularity grew, the album started selling where it even received a platinum certification in 1999. 

But if you have never heard of the album, it's absolutely normal as Shania has essentially disowned the album and has expressed displeasure with this album as she felt that it did not really define her as an artist, especially as a singer-songwriter, due to the fact that she had no creative control on the album. In fact, she has only ever really performed one of the song during her tour and that song is "What Made You Say That" - this is essentially the only song I know from this album, despite seeing the album around our household growing-up. 

 

THE WOMAN IN ME

  

 

For her sophomore album, "The Woman in Me", Shania collaborated with Robert John "Mutt" Lange - known for his work with artists such as AC/DC, Def Leppard, and Foreigner to name a few - whom she married in 1993, after he met her while she doing local gig in the US to promote her debut album.  

 

Released in 1995, the album was a product of Shania's love for Rock music and Mutt's love for Country music - this partnership resulted in all of the songs on the album being either written / co-written by Mutt & Shania.   The album became a commercial success for Shania where it peaked at #1 on the Canadian Country Chart, the US Country Chart, and the UK Country Chart - by the end of the year, "The Woman in Me" had sold more than 4 million copies & it has since been certified Diamond. 

The success of the album can certainly be directed to the fact that a total of 8 songs - out of 12 - were released as a single, all of which had a music video at a time where music video helped album sales.  She kicked off the era with "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" -  a typical country song that talks about one's infidelity - which slowly gained attention on the charts but would later go all the way to #11 on the Billboard Country Chart and #1 on the Canadian Country chart.  However, her breakthrough in the country scene came with her 2nd single, "Any Man of Mine" which became her first #1 hit single on the US Country Chart and her first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 - this song is certainly one of her signature songs and one of the standout of the album.  Other singles that were released from the album included "The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You" - personally, one of my favourite song of the album, "(If You're Not in It For Love) I'm Outta Here!" - her 2nd #1 hit, "You Win My Love" - another #1 hit song for Shania, and one that I consider to be very underrated, "No One Needs to Know" - it found success as part of the soundtrack of Twister, and reached the top of the chart, "Home Ain't Where His Heart Is (Anymore)", and "God Bless the Child" which was her least successful single but it certainly proved that she's an excellent vocalist. 

 

COME ON OVER

    

 

Released in 1997, "Come On Over" is the album truly elevated Shania into international stardom - something many Country artists had failed to do until this point - as well one of the most successful country artists to crossover onto the pop genre. 

Just like her previous album, Shania and her team released the majority of the songs from the album as singles - out of 16 tracks, a total of 12 were released as single - in order to help promote the album and increase the sales of the album.  She started the era with "Love Gets Me Every Time"  - a song where you can certainly hear the country sound, it topped the Country Song chart for a total of 5 weeks - and it was followed by "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)" - a song that I absolutely love from the album, and I am surprised to find out that it only charted at #6 on the Country song chart as I feel that it's a stronger song than "Love Gets Me Every Time". 

 

However, the single that helped the sales of the album was certainly "You're Still the One", a love song that was released as the third single - it went on to become a hit on country radio and a cross-over hit where it charted at #3 on the Hot 100.  She continued to find success with the other singles from the album, notably "From This Moment On" -  a staple to be played at wedding & one of my all-time favourite love song - which charted at #1 on the Adult Contemporary and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 ; Higher than the placement of the song on the Country chart. 

 

The subsequent single released from the album were : "When" - it was released in Canada as a pop single ; "Honey, I'm Home" - one of the most underrated uptempo song from "Come on  Over", and the song became her last song to hit #1 on the Country chart ; "That Don't Impress Me Much" - easily one of her staple song as it became one of her biggest hit internationally; "You've Got a Way" - another favorite of mine that I find to be super underrated; "Come on Over"  - the title track of the album which is another song that does not get the recognition that it deserves; "Rock This Country!" - one of the lowest charted song from the album but one that she continues to keep in her repertoire; "I'm Holdin' On to Love (To Save My Life)" - not one that I think about often but it's apparently one of her longest running single.

But we cannot talk about "Come On Over" without talking of the success of "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!", which was released as the eighth single from the album - can you believe that one of her biggest song was only released as the 8th single from the album ?  As well know, the song is iconic and one that truly capitulated Shania to international stardom - the song was able to reach the Top 10 in more than 6 countries, reaching the top-five on the Hot Country songs, and being certified Platinum ; A great example that one's biggest song may not always been the highest charted song of their career.   And we cannot talk of "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" without talking about the iconic music video, the song being a LGBTQIA+ and girl power anthem, and it being one of the most recognizable country song around the world.

 

With the success of all of the singles released from "Come On Over", the album has become the best-selling country album of all-time on top of being the best selling album by a Canadian, and the biggest-selling studio album by a solo female artist. It is no surprise that the album has been certified 2x Diamond in the US and Canada, while breaking many records around the world. 

 

UP!

  

 

After the immense success of "Come On Over", Shania Twain was an international superstar which meant that her record label and management were willing to take any risk in continuing this success, which is exactly what they did with her release of fourth studio album, "Up!".   The album was her first release in five years, and she release three versions of the album : the red disc (pop) as she was known seen as the country pop diva, the green disc (country), and the blue disc (world music / dance / India film style) to capture another audience and market. 

 

The album was yet another success story for Shania : It reached #1 on multiple charts, and it would lead to her getting another Diamond certification which made her the only female artists to have three consecutive diamond albums released in the US, as mentioned earlier. 

 

Like the previous album, a total of 8 songs - out of 19 - were released as single ; It was certainly some of the better song from the album that was released as single.  The singles of this era were "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" which became a Top 10 country hit on the country & despite barely making Top 40 on the pop charts, it has became one of the most recognizable song from the era due to its success in the international market; "Up!" became the 2nd single of the album - I was surprised to find out that it only charted at #63 on the Hot 100 as it was a major hit for Shania in Canada ; "Ka-Ching!" was released as an International single and it became an hit in European country where it reached #1 in multiple country - not one of my top favourite but it's certainly an underrated one ; "Forever and for Always" became the fourth single of the era and it was a success in Europe and Canada while it only peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 ; "Thank You Baby! (For Makin' Someday Come So Soon)" found minor success due to its performance on the dance chart ; "She's Not Just a Pretty Face" had a limited release but it still found success as a Country song - one of my personal favourite from the album; "When You Kiss Me" is a beautiful love ballad that found mild success across the Atlantic - her vocals on the song are simply stunning ; And she ended the era with "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" which is an heartbreak song and it found little to none success per Shania's standard during this era.

 

Overall, Up! is certainly an album that certainly contributed to solidify Shania Twain as the country pop diva and an International superstar ; I want to highlight "Juanita", "C'est La Vie" and  "(Wanna Get to Know You) That Good!" with the latter being one that I think could have known good as a single.
 

GREATEST HITS

  

 

After the success of Shania between 1994 to 2004, it was time for Shania to release a Greatest Hits album, which was commercially success - it debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 while it debuted at #1 on the Country charts and remained at the top of the chart for a total of 11 consecutive weeks.  It went one to be certified 4x platinum, and it is considering to be one the fastest-selling greatest hits album by a female artists.

Additionally to music previously released, the album featured three new tracks where each one of them were released as singles.  The first single of the Greatest Hits was "Party for Two" - it was a hit on the country radio as a duet with Billy Currington, who benefited from his duet with Shania Twain, and a pop version with Mark McGrath.  Another single was "Don't" which showed a softer side to Shania and one of her highest debut on the Country chart - the song would, sadly, only peak to #24 on the Country charts.  The era ended with "I Ain't No Quitter" which was her lowest charted single - it's probably one of my lesser favourite single of hers. 

 

NOW

  

 

After a 15 year hiatus, which included a divorce and a weakened singing voice due to her diagnosis of Lyme disease and dysphonia, Shania returned with her fifth studio album, "Now", in 2017.   This album also became the first album in her career where she had a bigger role in the production as well in the writing process - it became the first album where all songs were written by Shania, herself.   

It's not surprising that it's the album that's the least successful but that being said, she was still able to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200, on the Canadian Albums chart, and the Top Country Albums - it was certified platinum in Canada.  

The album was well-received by fans, like myself, as we never thought that she would be making new music after some of her diagnosis shortly after her divorce.  What made this album even more special was that it was her most personal album - you could certainly feel her pain in her voice on some tracks as well her storytelling coming through.  Some of the highlight of the album includes "Life's About to Get Good",, "Soldier", "Poor Me", "Who's Gonna Be Your Girl", "I'm Alright", "Where Do You Think You're Going", and  "Because of You". 

 

OTHERS

  

 

With a career that started 30 years, it is to be expected that the Queen of Country Pop had collaborated with other artists, released music that's not featured on an album, or even a performance featured on her live album. These are some of my favourite songs that fall in the other category: 

 

"Coat of Many Colors" (feat. Alison Kraus)

"Shoes" (featured on Desperate Housewives)

"You Needed Me" (feat. Anne Murray)

"Today is Your Day" (Theme song of Why Not? With Shania Twain)

"Endless Love" (feat. Lionel Richie)

"Come on Over" (Shania: Still the One)

"Rock This Country!" (Shania: Still the One)

"You're Still the One" (Shania : Still the One)

"From This Moment On" (Shania : Still the One)

"Legends Never Die" (feat. Orville Peck)

"Hole in the Bottle" (feat. Kelsea Ballerini)

"Not Just a Girl" (from Netlix's Not Just a Girl)

[taylorkat]

Wow, what a write-up!

[QueenKalie]

You definitely put a lot of effort into that writeup so nice work on that!

[~Tom~]

Amazing tribute to Shania, Chris! I love a lot of her songs but You’re Still the One and Forever and For Always are my top favorites of hers.

[jarmon]

Shania will always be THAT B**** (respectfully). She's an icon, she's a legend and she IS the MOMENT. 

[taylorkat]

12 minutes ago, jarmon said:

Shania will always be THAT B**** (respectfully). She's an icon, she's a legend and she IS the MOMENT. 

[QueenKalie]

Loretta Lynn

 

 

 

Dear Miss Loretta, I ain't ever met ya, But I'm lonely tonight and I just betcha, You might have some wisdom to pull off that shelf, Your songs were all fun 'til I lived them myself, I ain't a coal miner's daughter, But my grandmother was, Must be whiskey in the water, Must be bourbon in the blood, I'm a long way from Kentucky, But the hurtin's the same, Now I know why you sang that way.

 

If you had a song writen about you that makes you a legend for sure but if the person who wrote the song isn't here anymore then I guess Loretta doesn't need to be here either. 

[*Wallace]

Amazing + iconic write-up of Shania there, Chris!  The fact that it got 7 likes in an hour is really proof of that!  

 

And probably to no surprise but I really became a fan of hers during the Come On Over era. That was really THAT era, where it was so iconic and groundbreaking in country/pop music going mainstream! I do feel most partial to "You're Still the One."  But I do love so many songs she released from that album! It's insane and iconic how an album had 12 out of 16 songs released as singles because who does that!  I also enjoyed her Up! era too, specifically "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!"

 

And yeah wonderful, write-up once again, Chris!  

[*Chris]

Thanks everyone for the comments - I really appreciate it!

Been a fan of Shania for as long as I could remember - like Akshar said, she's an icon, she's the legend, and she's the moment.

 

And I will eventually tell my nephews and nieces that these two were my fairy godmothers :

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by *Chris

[~Tom~]

Loretta is a legend and to quote her words: 

 

L

[*Chris]

Without Loretta Lynn, we wouldn't have Dolly & Reba and in return we wouldn't have Shania & Carrie and in return we wouldn't have Kelsea & Danielle & Maren. 

In other words, without Loretta Lynn, country music would be nothing. 

[taylorkat]

Margo Price

 

 

Margo Rae Price is a singer-songwriter and producer. Her debut album, Midwest Farmer's Daughter, was released on Third Man Records. The album was recorded in three days. It had limited commercial success. Her other albums are All-American Made and That's How Rumors Get Started.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by taylorkat

[*Diana]

SheDAISY

 

 

 

if this chicks are cut then no female band should win so I will help that out by cutting SheDaisy tonight. Funnily enough they are from Magna Utah, hah. I will cut them for that alone. Magna sucks. Anyway bye to them, below is the song I heard of posted below.

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by *Diana

[~Tom~]

Come Home Soon and a couple others by them are sweet, but they were one of my potential cuts so thanks Diana.

 

 

[*Chris]

19 minutes ago, taylorkat said:

Margo Price

Used to follow her career when it first started but haven't really followed it much since then but I do love this song that she released last year, on top of the one that you posted: 

 

And this cover is what made me discover her:

 

[*Chris]

14 minutes ago, *Diana said:

SheDAISY

Great spot for SHeDAISY - one of the few all-female group, outside of The Chicks, to find success. 

 

Always enjoyed these songs of theirs:

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by *Chris

[*Wallace]

Lmao I forgot all about SHeDAISY until seeing them listed in this game.  But I do remember them from years ago, though I couldn't really remember their songs that well.