Lila McCann
Encyclopedia
Lila Elaine McCann is an American country music
singer who made her debut at age sixteen with the single "Down Came a Blackbird." Reaching a peak of #28 on the Billboard
Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, the song was the first release from her 1997 album Lila
, which became the highest-selling album for a debut country music act in all of 1997 and was certified platinum
in the United States.
McCann played Kelly Wyman, an aspiring country singer in Walker, Texas Ranger, "Eyes of a Ranger" 1998 episode. She sang USA national anthem acapella for an opening to a rodeo sequence in the episode, and serenaded the main character, Walker (Chuck Norris), singing "Eyes of a Ranger".
McCann followed Lila with two more albums: 1999's gold-certified Something in the Air
and 2001's Complete, before being dropped by her label in 2001. She signed to the independent Broken Bow Records
label in 2005, releasing five singles for the label before being dropped in 2008. Overall, she has charted twelve singles on the Billboard country charts, with the highest-peaking being 1998's "I Wanna Fall in Love" at #3. Her second-highest peaking single, 1999's "With You", which reached #9 on the country charts and #41 on the Billboard Hot 100
, is her only entry on the latter chart.
" in her father's country music band. Later on, she became a local performer in her own right, singing in small venues around her hometown. By the time she was in her early teens, McCann recorded "Down Came a Blackbird", a song which was given to her by her manager, Kasey Walker. McCann's version of the song was sent to Seymour Stein, president of the Asylum Records
label, who signed her to a recording contract in 1997.
; the song went on to peak at #28 on the Billboard country charts. Released in June 1997, Lila drew critical acclaim and comparisons to LeAnn Rimes
. These comparisons stemmed from the fact that both singers, who were teenagers at the time, were recording material that was considered mature for their age. Lila was also the highest-selling album for a new country music act that year, earning platinum certification in the United States for shipments of one million copies. "I Wanna Fall in Love", the album's second single, became McCann's highest-charting single at #3 on the US country charts and #1 on the Canadian country charts. However, the third and fourth singles (a cover of Sheena Easton
's "Almost Over You" and the Mark Spiro
-Andrew Gold
collaboration "Yippy Ky Yay", respectively) failed to make Top 40 in the US, although the former was a #38 in Canada. Later in 1998, McCann recorded a song entitled "To Get Me to You" for the soundtrack to the movie Hope Floats
. This song was released to radio, although it did not chart.
, was issued in 1999. Originally slated as its lead-off single was "You're Gone", which featured harmony vocals from Vince Gill
, Steve Wariner
and Bryan White
(of whom the latter two also co-wrote the song). This song was withdrawn before it could chart, however, and "With You" was its replacement. This song entered Top Ten on the country music charts, and peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100
, giving McCann her only entry on the latter chart. Something in the Air was certified gold in the United States; although three additional singles were released from it, none reached higher than #41 on the country music charts.
McCann's third album, 2001's Complete, was issued on Warner Bros. Records
, due to the closure of Asylum Records's Nashville division which resulted in the transfer of Asylum's roster to the Warner Bros. label. Nineteen years old at the time of its release, McCann felt that the album marked an increased level of maturity in her work. The first single from Complete, "Come a Little Closer", reached a peak of #43 on the country music charts. After it came "Because of You", which failed to chart. McCann was dropped from Warner Bros.' roster in 2002, following the release of a Super Hits compilation which was composed of material from her previous albums.
. Later that same year, McCann signed to a new recording contract with Broken Bow Records
, an independent record label. Although four singles were issued on the label between 2005 and early 2006, no album was released on Broken Bow during that timespan. A fifth single for Broken Bow, titled "That's What Angels Do", was shipped to radio in December 2007, and entered the country music charts at #60. McCann left Broken Bow Records in early 2008 and announced in October of the same year that she was expecting her and her husband's first child. She now lives in Nashville with her 3 dogs, her husband Mike and their son Abraham Elliot, who was born on December 15, 2008. Lila announced on her official twitter account that in December she is expecting her second child, another son.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer who made her debut at age sixteen with the single "Down Came a Blackbird." Reaching a peak of #28 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, the song was the first release from her 1997 album Lila
Lila (album)
Lila is the debut album of American country music singer Lila McCann. Released in 1997 on Asylum Records, the album produced four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts: "Down Came a Blackbird" , "I Wanna Fall in Love" , a cover of Sheena Easton's "Almost Over You" and...
, which became the highest-selling album for a debut country music act in all of 1997 and was certified platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in the United States.
McCann played Kelly Wyman, an aspiring country singer in Walker, Texas Ranger, "Eyes of a Ranger" 1998 episode. She sang USA national anthem acapella for an opening to a rodeo sequence in the episode, and serenaded the main character, Walker (Chuck Norris), singing "Eyes of a Ranger".
McCann followed Lila with two more albums: 1999's gold-certified Something in the Air
Something in the Air (album)
Something in the Air is the second album from American country music singer Lila McCann. Her second and final album for Asylum Records, it was released in 1999 and it achieved RIAA gold certification...
and 2001's Complete, before being dropped by her label in 2001. She signed to the independent Broken Bow Records
Broken Bow Records
Broken Bow Records is an American independent record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in July of 1999 by Benny Brown, the label specializes in country music The label's general manager is Jon Loba....
label in 2005, releasing five singles for the label before being dropped in 2008. Overall, she has charted twelve singles on the Billboard country charts, with the highest-peaking being 1998's "I Wanna Fall in Love" at #3. Her second-highest peaking single, 1999's "With You", which reached #9 on the country charts and #41 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, is her only entry on the latter chart.
Biography
Lila Elaine McCann was born on December 4, 1981 in Puyallup, Washington. She gave her first public performance at age four, when she sang "You Are My SunshineYou Are My Sunshine
"You Are My Sunshine" is a popular song first recorded in 1939. It has been declared one of the state songs of Louisiana as a result of its association with former state governor and country music singer Jimmie Davis. The song is copyright 1940 Peer International Corporation, words and music by...
" in her father's country music band. Later on, she became a local performer in her own right, singing in small venues around her hometown. By the time she was in her early teens, McCann recorded "Down Came a Blackbird", a song which was given to her by her manager, Kasey Walker. McCann's version of the song was sent to Seymour Stein, president of the Asylum Records
Asylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...
label, who signed her to a recording contract in 1997.
1997-1998: Lila
"Down Came a Blackbird" was issued in mid-1997 as the first single from her debut album, LilaLila (album)
Lila is the debut album of American country music singer Lila McCann. Released in 1997 on Asylum Records, the album produced four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts: "Down Came a Blackbird" , "I Wanna Fall in Love" , a cover of Sheena Easton's "Almost Over You" and...
; the song went on to peak at #28 on the Billboard country charts. Released in June 1997, Lila drew critical acclaim and comparisons to LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
. These comparisons stemmed from the fact that both singers, who were teenagers at the time, were recording material that was considered mature for their age. Lila was also the highest-selling album for a new country music act that year, earning platinum certification in the United States for shipments of one million copies. "I Wanna Fall in Love", the album's second single, became McCann's highest-charting single at #3 on the US country charts and #1 on the Canadian country charts. However, the third and fourth singles (a cover of Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
's "Almost Over You" and the Mark Spiro
Mark Spiro
is an American Songwriter, Record Producer, Recording Artist, and TV Series Original Music Producer. He is represented on over 100 Million Records sold World-Wide.-Discography and Soundtrack Filmography:SONGWRITER* JULIAN LENNON - “”...
-Andrew Gold
Andrew Gold
Andrew Maurice Gold was an American singer, musician and songwriter. His works include the Top 10 single "Lonely Boy" , as well as the singles "Thank You for Being a Friend" , and "Never Let Her Slip Away" ....
collaboration "Yippy Ky Yay", respectively) failed to make Top 40 in the US, although the former was a #38 in Canada. Later in 1998, McCann recorded a song entitled "To Get Me to You" for the soundtrack to the movie Hope Floats
Hope Floats
Hope Floats is a 1998 American romantic drama film directed by Forest Whitaker, and starring Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick, Jr. and Gena Rowlands....
. This song was released to radio, although it did not chart.
1999-2000: Something in the Air and Complete
McCann's second album, Something in the AirSomething in the Air (album)
Something in the Air is the second album from American country music singer Lila McCann. Her second and final album for Asylum Records, it was released in 1999 and it achieved RIAA gold certification...
, was issued in 1999. Originally slated as its lead-off single was "You're Gone", which featured harmony vocals from Vince Gill
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
, Steve Wariner
Steve Wariner
Steven Noel "Steve" Wariner is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has released eighteen studio albums, including six on MCA Records, and three each on RCA Records, Arista Records and Capitol Records...
and Bryan White
Bryan White
Bryan White is an American country music artist. Signed to Asylum Records in 1994 at age 20, White released his self-titled debut album that year. Both it and its follow-up, 1996's Between Now and Forever, were certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and 1997's The...
(of whom the latter two also co-wrote the song). This song was withdrawn before it could chart, however, and "With You" was its replacement. This song entered Top Ten on the country music charts, and peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, giving McCann her only entry on the latter chart. Something in the Air was certified gold in the United States; although three additional singles were released from it, none reached higher than #41 on the country music charts.
McCann's third album, 2001's Complete, was issued on Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, due to the closure of Asylum Records's Nashville division which resulted in the transfer of Asylum's roster to the Warner Bros. label. Nineteen years old at the time of its release, McCann felt that the album marked an increased level of maturity in her work. The first single from Complete, "Come a Little Closer", reached a peak of #43 on the country music charts. After it came "Because of You", which failed to chart. McCann was dropped from Warner Bros.' roster in 2002, following the release of a Super Hits compilation which was composed of material from her previous albums.
2005-2008: Switch to Broken Bow
In 2005, McCann married her boyfriend Mike Wolofsky in Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. Later that same year, McCann signed to a new recording contract with Broken Bow Records
Broken Bow Records
Broken Bow Records is an American independent record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in July of 1999 by Benny Brown, the label specializes in country music The label's general manager is Jon Loba....
, an independent record label. Although four singles were issued on the label between 2005 and early 2006, no album was released on Broken Bow during that timespan. A fifth single for Broken Bow, titled "That's What Angels Do", was shipped to radio in December 2007, and entered the country music charts at #60. McCann left Broken Bow Records in early 2008 and announced in October of the same year that she was expecting her and her husband's first child. She now lives in Nashville with her 3 dogs, her husband Mike and their son Abraham Elliot, who was born on December 15, 2008. Lila announced on her official twitter account that in December she is expecting her second child, another son.
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country |
US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
CAN Country RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
|||
| Lila Lila (album) Lila is the debut album of American country music singer Lila McCann. Released in 1997 on Asylum Records, the album produced four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts: "Down Came a Blackbird" , "I Wanna Fall in Love" , a cover of Sheena Easton's "Almost Over You" and... |
|
8 | 86 | 1 | 10 |
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Platinum |
| Something in the Air Something in the Air (album) Something in the Air is the second album from American country music singer Lila McCann. Her second and final album for Asylum Records, it was released in 1999 and it achieved RIAA gold certification... |
|
5 | 85 | — | 10 |
|
| Complete |
Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies... |
18 | 152 | — | * | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart * denotes unknown peak positions |
||||||
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Super Hits |
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
CAN Country RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
|||
| 1997 | "Down Came a Blackbird" | 28 | — | 40 | Lila |
| "I Wanna Fall in Love I Wanna Fall in Love "I Wanna Fall in Love" is a single by American country music artist Lila McCann. Released in late 1997, it was the second single from her debut album, Lila. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in February 1998 and #1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in... " |
3 | — | 1 | ||
| 1998 | "Almost Over You" | 42 | — | 38 | |
| "Yippy Ky Yay" | 63 | — | 70 | ||
| "To Get Me to You" | — | — | — | Hope Floats Hope Floats: Music from the Motion Picture Hope Floats: Music From the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1998 film Hope Floats. It was released by Capitol Records on April 7, 1998, featuring 13 tracks by country music and adult contemporary singers. That year, the album reached #4 on The Billboard 200 and #1 on Top Country Albums... (soundtrack) |
|
| 1999 | "With You With You (Lila McCann song) "With You" is a single by American country music artist Lila McCann. Released in 1999, it was the first single from her second album, Something in the Air. The song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in June 1999, becoming her last Top 40 single to date. It was also... " |
9 | 41 | 23 | Something in the Air |
| "Crush" | 41 | — | 42 | ||
| 2000 | "I Will Be" | 47 | — | 76 | |
| "Kiss Me Now" | 60 | — | 76 | ||
| 2001 | "Come a Little Closer" | 43 | — | * | Complete |
| "Because of You" | — | — | * | ||
| 2005 | "Go Easy on Me" | 53 | — | * | Non-album songs |
| "I Can Do This" | — | — | * | ||
| 2006 | "Peace on Earth" | — | — | * | |
| 2008 | "That's What Angels Do" | 60 | — | * | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart * denotes unknown peak positions |
|||||
Guest singles
| Year | Single | Artist | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
||||
| 2008 | "I'm Amazed" | Jim Brickman Jim Brickman Jim Brickman is an American songwriter and pianist. He has been named the most charted male Adult Contemporary artist to date, with six of his albums receiving Gold and Platinum status. He is known for his solo piano compositions, pop-style instrumentals, and vocal collaborations with artists... |
59 | The Disney Songbook |
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "Down Came a Blackbird" | Norman Seeff |
| "I Wanna Fall in Love" | Susan Johnson | |
| 1998 | "Almost Over You" | Kevin McVey |
| "Yippy Ky Yay" | Kasey Walker | |
| "To Get Me to You" | Eric Barrett | |
| "With You" | Steven Goldmann Steven Goldmann Steven Goldmann is a Canadian music video and film director. He has directed over 200 music videos. Goldmann also directed the movies Broken Bridges and Trailer Park of Terror, and has additionally directed several television programs.-1990-1999:... |
|
| 1999 | "Crush" | |
| 2001 | "Come a Little Closer" | Gerry Wenner |