On this day (July 2) in 1991, Trisha Yearwood released her self-titled debut album. The record spawned multiple hit singles and set Yearwood up to dominate country radio throughout the ‘90s. It also helped to establish her as an inspirational artist in the genre.
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Yearwood has a knack for selecting high-quality songs. However, her stardom comes from more than her voice and song selection. She takes songs and makes them her own. Inspired by Linda Ronstadt, Loretta Lynn, and other early country greats, Yearwood molds the songs she chooses to fit her voice and vocal delivery. This artistic expression has had two major benefits. On one hand, listeners can almost immediately identify one of her songs when it plays. On the other hand, it showed younger artists how to take the next creative step when arranging and recording.
Trisha Yearwood Came Out Swinging
Some artists’ careers get off to a slow start before finding their stride years—and albums—later. However, that was not the case for Trisha Yearwood. “She’s in Love with the Boy,” the lead single from her self-titled debut album went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The album peaked at No. 2 on the publication’s Hot Country Albums chart. That was just the beginning.
“She’s in Love with the Boy” brought Yearwood the honor of being the first female country artist to have a debut single go to No. 1. She reflected on this in a 2021 interview with People. “We had no idea it would make history,” she said. “It had apparently been around for a few years and had never found the right home,” she added, “Lucky me!”
“We recorded it 100 percent because we like the song. I loved the story of nobody being good enough for Daddy’s little girl,” she recalled.
Her debut album spawned three more singles—“Like We Never Had a Broken Heart,” “That’s What I Like About You,” and “The Woman Before Me.” All of them were Top 10 hits.
Over the course of her career, Yearwood has released 15 studio albums. All but three went to the top 10 of the country albums chart. Three of them—Inside Out, Jasper County, and Christmas Together (with Garth Brooks)—went to No. 1.
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