And to think, she owes it all to a Barbie doll and a bathroom.
Born Dec. 4, 1981, Lila Elaine McCann became the youngest in a family that included 2 parents (Pat and Gretchen), and four brothers (Shane, Chad, Billy, and Patrick). Her father led the Southlanders, a country band that played at local Eagles Clubs and Elks Lodges around Seattle. One night, four-year-old Lila told her amused father she wanted to join him on stage.
"The only reason I got up to sing was that I wanted to be cool like Dad," Lila said. "The first time I got up to sing, he kind of laughed at me."
Of course, that simple question would prove itself to be pivotal later. But right then, the frightened child became stricken with nervousness, and abruptly fled.
"I was scared and hiding in the bathroom," she remembered. "My mom had to coax me out by promising to buy me a Barbie doll." Lila consented and gave her first stage performance, which included renditions of "You Are My Sunshine" and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys."
Five years later, Lila was introduced to her manager, "burned out" veteran Kasey Walker.
"My father made me go hear her," Walker recalled. "Lila's father announced her, and here was this little girl with a Shirley Temple perm and a flowered dress on and I laughed to myself and thought 'What am I doing here?'" That changed when Lila started singing. "I thought I was witnessing the Streisand of country music. Her voice just blew me out of the water."
"I didn't want to have to go that night," Walker continues. "I wanted to change and do something else, but when I heard Lila sing, it was like a transformation in my own career goals." From then on, Walker vowed to help Lila however she could, even assembling a high-powered team that worked for free to transform a little girl into a star. One member was attorney Ken Hertz, who represented Alanis Morrisette, No Doubt, and Boyz II Men.
At 12, Lila played a showcase at the Palomino Club in Los Angeles, Calif., and earned a record deal with impressed Asylum Records, nearly two years before fellow sensation LeAnn Rimes would sign hers. Three years later, in between bites at a taco night at the South Tacoma Eagles Lodge, she heard herself on the radio for the first time.
"It was really weird," she laughed. "My friends were jumping up and down, screaming. I was so embarrassed, I had to run to the bathroom."
In all, her debut album, Lila, did remarkably well. It produced a Top 5 Billboard hit ("I Wanna Fall in Love", #3) and Top 30 hit ("Down Came a Blackbird", #28), went platinum in the U.S. won her the 1998 Country Radio Music Newcomer of the Year Award, and earned her coverage in the prestigious Time magazine. She also earned a Best New Female Vocalist nomination at the ACMs, but lost out to Lee Ann Womack. Other honors she was given included an inclusion in the Country America Top Ten Stars of 1998 listing, being named the Best-Selling New Artist of 1998, and nominated for the 1998 Female Newcomer of the Year award.
Such successes could have come with a cost. As Lila's career began kicking off, her parents and her manager asked her if she wanted to continue attending a public high school, or hire a tutor and do music full-time.
"I wanted to stay in school," the former varsity cheerleader said. "School is a part of your childhood that you're not going to get back - ever. "
Her friends also helped the rising star stay grounded.
"They always knew I sang, but I don't think they believed me when I said I was going to make a record," she laughed. "And when I did, they're like 'Yeah right, you weren't in Tennessee recording all summer. And then they saw my record in the store and they were, like, 'Oh yeah, well, do you know who my best friend is?'"
"My friends are awesome, they're so supportive," Lila continued. "They all bought two copies of my CD. Of course, they've all threatened to take me to the National Enquirer if I disown them!"
And Lila's friends were among the first to celebrate when George Strait asked Lila to join him in his George Strait Country Music Festival tour.
"My manager and I were talking about tours, and she said, 'The only way I'm letting you miss any school for a tour is if it's with George Strait," Lila said gleefully.
Lila wrapped up the year with a starring guest role in the hit series Walker, Texas Ranger. She was well-received, by critics, fans, and star Chuck Norris.
"What a real professional," Norris praised. "She is a very talented young lady! She jumped right in. It was fun watching her develop her character."
Lila's sophomore album, Something in the Air, was released amid high hopes.
"People expect more from your sophomore album," she said, "so it's either great or terrible. That's the way people look at it, really."
For this album, Lila called in friends Bryan White, Steve Wariner, and Vince Gill to help. Bryan and Steve co-wrote "You're Gone," and Vince, who was recording down the hall, joined the tenors on back-ups for that song. He also lent his vocals to "Kiss Me Now."
"Vince was a total surprise," Lila revealed. "He was down the hall recording all week long, so I would keep saying, 'Hey, you need to come in and do some background vocals,' knowing, like, 'Yeah right, Vince Gill's gonna come sing on my record.' Then when Steve and Bryan came in, he popped in and said, 'OK, I'm ready to sing.' Then, when I got the masters of the album back, he had sung on another song. I was shocked. You can't mistake that voice, so I called my producer and he said, 'Oh yeah, I thought he'd sound good on that one.'"
Something in the Air was led by "With You", Lila's first chart success since "I Wanna Fall in Love."
"I just think it's a cool song. It's real universal," she said. "It can relate whether you're my age or however old you are."
The critics, meanwhile, continued to be impressed with the Washington native. Lila debuted on the Grand Ole Opry on July 30, 1999, was CMT's July Showcase Artist of the Month, nominated for the TNN/Music City News Female Star of Tomorrow Award, featured as one of Teen People's "20 Teens Who Will Change the World", performed at the Hula Bowl, had her debut album certified gold, and received a plaque commemorating "I Wanna Fall in Love" being the twelth-most-played song of 1998.
On a personal note, Lila was thrilled to join fellow cheerleaders from across the country in a parade in front of Buckingham Palace and the Queen of England.
"The UCA [Universal Cheerleaders Association] has a competition called All-Stars where you try out with about 50 girls," she explained. "And about 13 of us made it!"
Because of the hectic struggle to control her two lives, Lila was relieved to find support at her school.
"I think now the teachers realize that, 'Hey, she's not just doing this for fun. It's her job,'" Lila said. "It's something that I want to do after I graduate, and hopefully for the rest of my life. They're very supportive."
Being perhaps the most famous public high school student in music caused Lila to establish an example for her younger fans to follow.
"Parents come up to me and say, "You're such a good role model!'," Lila related. "But I'm just being myself. It's because I'm doing the things I want to do and doing school at the same time."
Something in the Air continued Lila's success run, raising her portfolio higher. Nearly platinum, it produced her second Top 10 Billboard hit, and the many award nominations and wins already listed.
After struggling a bit with singles, Lila scored a critical smash with "To Get Me to You", her addition to the star-studded Hope Floats movie soundtrack. Critics called it the "strongest addition to the soundtrack" and said she "nailed it." Country Song Roundup wrote that Lila "soothes away the heartache with the sweet, sultry promise of "To Get Me to You'."
Alas, radio chose not to agree with those sentiments. Lila's career suffered another blow when her record label, Asylum, merged with Warner Brothers Records, though she was among the few artists that were transferred.
But despite the career hardships, Lila's personal life had never been better. In June 2000, she graduated from Steilacoom High School. Even then, Lila, who always attempted to keep a low profile, was singled out: CBS named her an 'Outstanding Member of the Class of 2000' and profiled her twice on the prime-time newsmagazine 48 Hours.
"I think everybody chooses their own career path that they want to take," Lila said. "For me, that has been to stay in school and get an education, and then move on to bigger and better things."
"I could have had a private tutor, the home-schooling and all that," she continued. "But I'm glad I didn't take that route, because I was able to socialize and make a variety of friends.
Shortly after graduating, Lila took another step towards independence when she moved from her Washington home into an apartment in Los Angeles.
"I've just signed the lease for an apartment," Lila related. However, "I have mixed feelings about leaving," she admitted. "It'll be weird to realize that Mom won't be cooking dinner for me when I come home. I definitely will be homesick."
Lila was barely settled in when she immediately left on a national tour. During that, she turned her attention to her third album, which was eventually titled Complete.
"I was on the road during the whole making of this record. So I would, you know, go into the studio for a couple days, do some music tracks, do some vocal tracks, go back out on the road for a week, come back in the studio for two days, and it was like back and forth, back and forth," Lila revealed. "And it was also difficult because we were trying to find songs at the same time too. And that抯 hard to do when you抮e on the road. "
While recording Complete, Lila was determined to show off her new more mature attitude in her songs.
"I was just trying to find stuff that was a little bit older but yet桰抦 still only [20], so not stuff that was way far beyond what I抳e experienced or what I can relate to," she said, on picking songs.
The first single off Complete, "Come a Little Closer," scored well on music channels, rising to the top of the chart frequently on the popular CMT show, Most Wanted Live, which was based on MTV's Total Request Live.
No longer the 'other' country teenage sensation, Lila's successful career is only beginning. With multiplatinum records, songwriting talents, a stunning voice, and an endearing personality, Lila will doubtlessly continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.
Source: http://www.lilaonline.com
