Together, they came up with a love ballad where Hill expresses her undying love for this person that is so strong that her whole world melts away when she is with this guy. The song was written by veteran country songwriters Stephanie Bentley and Holly Lamar with Hill producing the song with her regular producer Byron Gallimore. “Breathe” is one of those hit songs that doesn’t have a big origin story to its creation. Hill’s fourth album Breathe showed her moving further into the pop mainstream as the title track would prove. “It’s Your Love” is Tim McGraw’s highest-charting single as a lead artist but he peaked at #3 as a guest on Nelly’s “ Over and Over” from 2004. A year later, Hill and McGraw capitalized on their new status as country music’s power couple by putting out the romantic duet “It’s Your Love.” The song was a six-week country #1 but more importantly to this post broke Hill onto the Hot 100 in a big way where it peaked at #7. Throughout the tour, Hill, already divorced from Dan Hill and engaged to her former producer, started a relationship with McGraw which quickly led to them getting married after Hill became pregnant with their first child. It was after her second album when Hill went on tour with fellow rising country singer Tim McGraw. At this point, Hill was an absolute hitmaker in country but hadn’t had much success outside of it with her two albums performing moderately well on the pop albums chart with her singles failing to crossover to the Hot 100. Her second album, 1995’s It Matters To Me, did a little better going four times platinum and spawning out several more country hits including the title track going to #1. Three of its singles making the Top 10 on the country charts including its first two singles, “Wild One” and a cover of the Erma Franklin turned Janis Joplin classic “Piece of My Heart,” going to #1. who signed Hill to a record deal.įaith Hill put out her first album Take Me As I Am in October 1993 which became an instant success going triple platinum. It was one of those performances with Burr that caught the attention of an exec from Warner Bros.

During her secretary job, a co-worker overheard her singing one day which led to Hill becoming a demo singer for the firm and a backup singer for songwriter Gary Burr. At 19, Perry dropped out of college to move to Nashville and chase her country music dreams but for a while, things weren’t taking off.Īfter working various jobs from selling T-shirts and McDonalds, Perry got work as a secretary at a local music publishing firm which is around the time when she married music publishing exec Dan Hill. She first performed at age seven for a local youth group continuing to perform in various settings throughout her childhood like churches, rodeos, fairs, and even prisons. (The #1 song in America on the day of Perry’s birth was the Box Tops’ “ The Letter.”) Like many artists, Perry showed her talent for singing very young. I was approaching my first birthday when “Breathe” was all over the charts and the radio and its success just leaves me scratching my head considering how forgotten it is now.Īudrey Faith Perry grew up in small-town Mississippi as the adopted daughter of a heavily Christian family. But despite that and being named by Billboard as the biggest song of 2000, the second non #1 song to be given that distinction, “Breathe” has all but disappeared from public memory. The song certainly hit a zeitgeist as 2000 proved to be a good year for this kind of pop-leaning country crossover. Take Faith Hill’s “Breathe.” In the spring of 2000, Hill’s title track to her massively successful album was a no joke crossover smash hitting the top of the country and adult contemporary charts while peaking up at #2 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 for five non-consecutive weeks behind hits by Santana and Aaliyah. But more often than not, the songs that are the absolute biggest of their moment often end up becoming a whiff of a memory to those around at the time, and to those not around will make you wonder what was going on. After all, a song doesn’t become a big hit without hitting some kind of popular zeitgeist. One of the funniest things about the pop charts is that just because a song becomes an absolute massive charting hit doesn’t necessarily translate into that song being fondly remembered years down the road.

SONG AT #1 THAT WEEK: Santana’s “ Maria Maria” (feat. If you like what I’m doing, comment and let me know what random Hot 100 hit song you want me to review. In Random Tracks, I review a random hit song from any point in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 going from the chart’s beginning in 1958.

Faith hill breathe