Jamie O'Neal photo courtesy of 1720 Entertainment.

In fact, it was songwriting that kept her moving forward. "I kept writing the songs I wanted to write about, who I was and what I wanted to talk about," she says. "That's exciting for me, but ultimately I knew as an artist that if I didn't keep going and record more music, I would regret it, and I don't want to have any regrets."

Through good and bad, Jamie has poured herself into her art, creating a body of work that connects profoundly with fans who recognize in her a kindred spirit.
"When someone tells me, 'Your song got me through a really hard time,'" she says, "or when 'Somebody's Hero' prompts someone to say, 'It makes me think about my Mom,' who I had to put in a nursing home,' I know exactly how important it is that I do what I do."

Those connections have been important since those early days traveling the country with her parents. She lived in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, attending Beverly Hills High along with many known actors and singers, then singing backup for Kylie Minogue. It was Nashville, though, that set her solo career in motion. Producer Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson, Clay Walker) helped her land the record deal that led to the critically acclaimed Shiver and its first single, "Arizona," which placed her in the front ranks of female singers. She won the ACM's Top New Female Vocalist award and was named the Top New Country Artist by Billboard. Two of her four Grammy nominations came as a songwriter, for Best Country Song for "Arizona" and its chart-topping follow-up, "When I Think About Angels."

She toured with Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Alan Jackson and Toby Keith, and landed songs on the soundtracks of "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "When We Were Soldiers," as well as on the ABC smash "Desperate Housewives."

It is a measure of the respect she has earned that after Celine Dion was unable to sing "All By Myself" for "Bridget Jones," the producers searched country music for its most powerful vocalist and chose Jamie. When Carrie Underwood won "American Idol," a search for a top-flight duet partner led once again to Jamie.