Strangely though, it is I Need You, that comes across as the best crafted of all the albums that LeAnn has recorded. And the really strange thing about it is that although this is one of the few times she is handling all original materials in one album, the package is technically a compilation release. It is made up of new compositions, various mixes and edits, tunes from the movie Coyote Ugly, the TV series Jesus and her famous duet with Elton John, Written in the Stars. LeAnn and Elton made the first recorded version of this song, which was written for the stage musical Aida.
But although culled from assorted sources, the songs in I Need You gel together seamlessly. This is mainly due to LeAnn’s sure-footed interpretation and her wonderful voice. Of course, I supposed there was also a lot of effort from the producers, which include LeAnn and her father, Wilbur, to come out with a sound definitive of her new image as a beautiful, successful and most of all svelte young woman. Hints of her country origins remain but everything else about the album mirrors the new LeAnn Rimes who is today every bit as glamorous as her co-stars in Coyote Ugly.
LeAnn recorded I Need You, the catchy first single, which comes in two versions, for the soundtrack of the television mini-series Jesus. The other songs in the album are Can’t Fight the Moonlight, the theme from Coyote Ugly which comes in a regular and a sensuous Latino mix; You Are, Soon, which also comes in two edits, But I Do Love You, which is also from the Coyote Ugly soundtrack, One of These Days, Love Must Be Telling Me Something, I Believe in You and Together, Forever, Always, a beautiful Country love song.
LeAnn started singing when she was seven in a musical production of A Christmas Carol. This was followed by a professional career that included raising curtains for country music stars like Randy Travis and singing the Star Spangled Banner in baseball games. She made her recording debut with a major label when she was 14 years old. She has since become the first country singer to win the Best New Artist Grammy and to debut an album in the Pop, Country and Contemporary Christian charts simultaneously at number one. She also set a new record when her recording of How Do I Live stayed for 69 weeks in the Hot 100 chart.
Aaliyah was a child performer who made her grown-up debut when she was only 15. It was also around this time that it was revealed she had married her mentor R. Kelly. The union was later annulled and she has since developed into an exceptionally talented artist. She is best known for her hits Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number from the album of the same title and Are You That Somebody from the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack and Try Again from the Romeo Must Die soundtrack, where she also made her very well-received acting debut.
She has just released a new album titled Aaliyah, an excellent production that takes R&B music to a higher level. She was supposed to have starred in two sequels to the cult favorite The Matrix opposite Keanu Reeves. At the time of her death, she had just finished work on the screen adaptation of the Anne Rice novel Queen of the Damned where she played the vampire queen.