LeAnn Rimes, Ty Herndon raised on classic Country

Joe Delaney

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997 | 5:22 a.m.

LEANN RIMES, APPEARING IN THE Caesars Palace Circus Maximus, Dec. 11-14, is a show business phenomenon, a megastar in the country music field at age 15. Top male country performer Ty Herndon shares the bill with her.

LeAnn was the recipient of two Grammy Awards this year. She was named Best New Artist (the first time a country artist was ever given this award) and Best Female Country Performance for her album "Blue." Composer Bill Marks also received a Grammy for "Blue" as the Best Country Song. "Blue" was originally written for Patsy Cline some 30 years ago.

More awards: LeAnn was voted Best New Country Artist at this year's American Music Awards. She is also the youngest nominee in the history of the Country Music Association.

And, she was a first-time nominee and a winner at this year's Academy of Country Music Awards.

The "Houston Chronicle" described LeAnn's voice: "The sound seems to come out of the past, like some lost Patsy Cline broadcast that's been hidden away for 35 or 40 years. ... Yet, the voice is young and fresh and remarkably full ... There's a new singer in town."

Born Aug. 28, 1982, in Jackson, Miss., LeAnn, an only child, began singing at age 2. There are tapes of her at that age singing "You Are My Sunshine," "Getting to Know You," and the Judds' "Have Mercy." Her parents, Wilbur and Belinda, have the tapes.

At 5, Le-Ann en-tered and won her first song-and-dance competition, sing-ing "Getting to Know You."

The family moved to Texas when LeAnn was 6 as a place where she might have a better chance to realize her dream to be a singer. She auditioned in Dallas and nearly won the lead role in "Annie II" on Broadway.

She made her stage debut in Dallas at 7, playing the lead role of Tiny Tim in "A Christmas Carol." LeAnn was a two-time winner on Ed McMahon's "Star Search" when she was 8, and became a regular on "Johnny High's Country Music Review" on Fort Worth TV. LeAnn developed a devoted following in Texas during the next few years.

It was LeAnn's a cappela performances of the national anthem at Dallas Cowboys games, the Walt Garrison Rodeos and the National Cutting Horse Championships that helped build that first following. Then she opened for Randy Travis in Dallas and made more than 100 appearances in 1995.

Bill Mack heard LeAnn sing at a local appearance and sent the family a tape copy of "Blue," which had laid dormant for more than 30 years. Cline had died before she had an opportunity to record the song.

LeAnn recalled: "My dad thought the song was too old for me. I loved it, though, and I was always bugging him to let me do it. Then I got the idea to put the yodel thing to it, and he said, 'Yes.' "

"Blue" also includes a duet with the great Eddy Arnold on his classic song "Cattle Call." LeAnn is looking forward to recording with Arnold again on his upcoming "Greatest Hits" album.

"Eddy Arnold is a great influence on me, along with Barbra Streisand, Patsy Cline, Reba McEntire, Wynnona and my parents. I want to continue singing and writing songs. I'd like to act, to go to college, too. I've always wanted to help children. I might study speech pathology," LeAnn said.

Herndon, opening for LeAnn, describes himself as being like "an old flannel shirt." "I'm pretty emotional, and that's the thing about my performances. You spend a lot of time with a song. You have to have lived it. ... You also have to portray it without killing yourself. ... That's the connection you want with songs that you sing.

"Our family was spirit-filled Baptists on the farm in Butler, Ala. I was raised on the spirit side of religion, where there's a bass and a beat, and people testifying with the music. I think, if anything, I have to strive to have the passion for life that my mother and grandmother both have," he said.

"What Mattered Most" is Herndon's successful album on the Epic label. Like LeAnn's debut, each is grounded in family, honesty, manners and respect. LeAnn and Herndon represent country music today. Catch them Dec. 11-14 in the Caesars Palace Circus Maximus and hear the truth told and sung simply.

Performance information

Where: Caesars Palace

When: Dec. 11-14

Information: 731-7333