Kellie Pickler (Photo by Robert Ascroft, courtesy of BNA Records)
Feb. 12, 2007 — She's not yet of legal age, but Kellie Pickler has been living life large.
At 20 she's already won the hearts of millions, coming in sixth on the fifth season of American Idol, has toured the country on the American Idols Live! Tour and has sat in the guest host seat on The View.
Not bad for someone who, until she was sent to Hollywood to compete on American Idol, had ever been on a plane.
Born in Albemarle, N.C., Pickler's parents split when she was 2, leaving her with her father who was fighting substance-abuse demons. When it became impossible for him to care for his baby daughter, she went to live with her grandparents, Faye and Clyde Pickler.
Her grandmother became her hero and was the one person young Pickler could count on. "My grandmother and I would bake cakes, plant flowers in the spring and bulbs in the fall," she says. She had a collection of children's books and one was a songbook. We would sit on the swing on the front porch and I would just sing my heart out."
Her grandmother's death when she was a high school sophomore dealt a huge blow. "The hardest thing I've ever gone through is the loss of my grandmother. She was always there for me, and then she was gone."
A beauty pageant win earned her a scholarship to the local community college, where she pursued cosmetology. "I hated it. I was miserable being in the classroom every day."
An American Idol audition in Greensboro, N.C., changed everything. By the time she'd been voted off the show, she'd signed a major record deal. "It was a whirlwind," Pickler recalls.
Her aptly titled "Small Town Girl" was released in October of last year. Pickler cowrote five tracks on the album, including the title cut and first single, "Red High Heels." Her beloved grandmother is remembered on "My Angel", while the inspiration for "I Wonder" comes from the mother she's never known.
The video for "Red High Heels" rose to the top spot and remains in the top three on GAC's Top 20 Countdown, (9 pm ET, Friday, Feb. 16).
"What I've learned the last year is that no dream is too big. You can let things bring you down, or you can use them to make you stronger. You can't give up on your dreams 'cause sometimes, that's all you have."
Upcoming tour dates for Kellie Pickler:
April 26, McKenzie Arena, Chattanooga, Tenn.
April 27, Paulson Stadium, Statesboro, Ga.
April 28, Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ga.
May 3, Roberts Stadium, Evansville, Ind.
May 4, the MARK of the Quad Cities, Moline, Ill.
May 6, Assembly Hall, Champaign, Ill.
May 10, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, St. Louis, Mo.
May 11, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Bonner Springs, Kan.
May 12, Smirnoff Music Center, Dallas, Texas
May 17, Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, Calif.
May 18, Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, Calif.
May 19, Sleep Train Amphitheatre, Marysville, Calif.
May 22, General Motors Place, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
May 24, Spokane Arena, Spokane, Wash.
May 25, Amphitheater At Clark County, Ridgefield, Wash.
May 26, White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, Wash.
June 7, Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, Ind.
June 8, Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
June 9, Tweeter Center, Mansfield, Mass.
June 10, Darien Lake Six Flags, Darien Center, N.Y.
June 22, Island Grove Park, Greeley, Colo.
June 23, Tachi Palace Indian Gaming Center, Lemoore, Calif.
June 24, Journal Pavilion, Albuquerque, N.M.
July 19, Jamboree In the Hills, Morristown, Ohio
July 20, Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek, Raleigh, N.C.
July 21, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Charlotte, N.C.
July 27, Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn.
July 28, Giant Center, Hershey, Pa.
July 29, Bethel Woods Center, Bethel, N.Y.
Aug. 2, Orlando Centroplex, Orlando, Fla.
Aug. 3, Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Fla.
Aug. 4, HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, Atlanta, Ga.
Aug. 9, Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Miss.
Aug. 10, Verizon Wireless Center, Pelham, Ala.
Aug. 11, Starwood Theatre, Antioch, Tenn.
Aug. 23, Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, Minn.
(Ronna Rubin, a 21-year veteran of the music industry, can be contacted at ronna@gacmusicbeat.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)
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