LeAnn Rimes made history when, at just 14 years old, she became the youngest person ever to win a Grammy Award. And not just one. She took home two – Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her rendition of ‘Blue’.
Steady success has followed – she’s since charted over 40 hits and sold over 48 million records worldwide – but the path hasn’t always been smooth.
The rocky times, Rimes reckons, have her perfectly placed to offer advice to aspiring singers in her latest role as a coach on both the Australian and UK versions of The Voice.
“People say on the show: ‘What do you tell these new artists?’ I’m like: ‘Don’t do it.’ I’m kidding, but you have to be prepared that it’s not [all] glitz and glamour,” she said in an interview with Fabulous magazine, in September 2024.
“It’s hard work, you need a thick skin, and you’re still going to have disappointments.”
How did LeAnn Rimes get famous?
Rimes, 42, started singing lessons around 3 years old, entered talent quests from age 5 and appeared on TV competition show Star Search at 8.
“I was young. Too young? It was just my journey, I can’t change it. Would I recommend it to anybody? No, absolutely not,” she told Fabulous. “Look, I have plenty of trauma from being in this business. You’re gonna have it, whether you’re a child or not.”
As a young teenager, Rimes dealt with the acrimonious divorce of her parents and, at 17, became embroiled in a legal fight with her father over missing millions.
“Looking back, I think my dad did the best that he could,” she told People magazine in November 2023. “For me it became a business, and I ended up not having parents.”
The pair settled out of court and reconciled in 2002, just in time for Rimes to be walked down the aisle by her dad at her first wedding to dancer (and now chef) Dean Sheremet.
Sheremet and Rimes split in 2009, when Rimes had an affair with actor Eddie Cibrian, – who was married to future Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville. The pair met on the set of TV movie Northern Lights in Canada.
“I did one of the most selfish things that I possibly could do, in hurting someone else,” she told People at the time. “I hate that people got hurt, but I don’t regret the outcome.”
Rimes and Cibrian went on to marry in April 2011, and Rimes became a stepmum to Cibrian’s sons, Mason, now 21, and Jake, now 17.
What medical condition does LeAnn Rimes have?
Days after her 30th birthday in August 2012, Rimes checked herself into a 30-day in-patient treatment facility to cope with anxiety, stress and co-dependency.
“I still battle anxiety daily – who wouldn’t when the world’s eyes have been on you since you were a child?” she wrote in a first-person piece for The Guardian in March 2023.
“But now it’s so much better … I’ve learned to navigate it.”
She has also spoken publicly about her struggle with the skin condition psoriasis. Diagnosed aged two she tried to hide the flare ups for years but eventually chose to speak up.
She shared a photo of herself during a flare up to great fanfare and support.
“I’ve started talking about it over the past decade, which has been incredibly healing for me,” she told Everyday Health.
What is LeAnn Rimes doing today?
Part of her strategy for peace involves forgetting about people-pleasing and making music that matters to her, including an album of chants she released in 2020. She plans to release gospel music, a dance record and a new studio album.
She’s also prioritising her modern family, having reconciled with her husband’s ex-wife during the pandemic when they celebrated Mother’s Day together after years of bitterness and mudslinging in the media.
“It takes a long time. The kids were 2 and 6 when I first met them,” Rimes told Fabulous of the tough transition. “They were young and it took a good three or four years to settle into things. And then, when people stopped writing crazy s–t about us, it was finally like we could just live quietly.”
Watching her stepsons grow up, she added, has helped her gain some perspective about just how unusual her spotlit existence has been.
“My life was very abnormal. I don’t remember a lot of my teens, it was such a whirlwind,” she told Fabulous.
“I definitely had my breakdowns, just like any human does. You go through those dark times in your life and you grow from them, hopefully – and I did.”
What is LeAnn Rimes net worth?
Despite being a self confessed shopaholic Rimes has held on to a net worth of $14.5 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
“I go shopping, like, every day,” Rimes told People, admitting to a particular fondness for shoes. “I am, like, a shopaholic,” she said.
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