Artist:Jamie O'Neal
Song:Somebody's Hero
Album:Brave
Australian born singer songwriter Jamie O'Neal had brief success in the early 00s on the country charts with hits like the 2005 single Somebody's Hero. Her problem was she was dropped by two different labels. It looks like they had no confidence in the longevity of her country pop sound. She was born Jamie Murphy June 3, 1968 in Sydney, Australia. Her parents Jimmy and Julie Murphy were musicians who moved the family to Las Vegas so they could perform in a casino. In the 70s, Jamie and her sister Samantha joined the act and The Murphy Family toured the US in an RV. After her parents divorce, Jamie moved to Los Angeles with her father. After some work as a Nashville demo singer, Jamie visited her mother in Australia and became a backup singer for Kylie Minogue. One of her demos got her a publishing deal with veteran Nashville producer Harold Shedd and EMI Music. And that led to a record deal with Mercury Nashville producer Keith Stegall. She struck gold when the 2000 single There's No Arizona topped the country charts. The album Shiver was released and it was certified Gold. Then she topped the country charts again with the 2001 single When I Think About Angels. Jamie recorded a second album for Mercury called On My Way to You. When the first single Every Little Thing didn't meet expectations, Mercury cancelled Jamie's album. She left Mercury for Capitol and brought Stegall with her. A lot of the songs that were supposed to be on that cancelled album appeared on Jamie's 2005 album Brave. Somebody's Hero was the second single and it reached #3 on the Country Singles chart. Jamie wrote most of the songs on the album with co-writers. Somebody's Hero is about how mothers are heroes and it's become a big Mother's Day song. Jamie wrote the song with Ed Hill and Shaye Smith. Hill has written hits for Reba McEntire. Shaye has written several songs with Jamie. The album did OK. But when the 2007 single God Don't Make Mistakes didn't meet expectations, Capitol cancelled Jamie's next album and she left Capitol. Brave is available as a budget CD. When Jamie recorded an album for 1729 Entertainment, the same thing happened. They didn't release the album. So now Jamie records for her own label. The albums are released by a distributor like Shanachie or Audium. She produces with husband Rodney Good who plays guitar in her band. She doesn't have that big label machine behind her. So she will never have a hit single. But she doesn't have to please anyone but herself and Jamie and her husband can make a good living performing live. Here's the video for Somebody's Hero by Jamie O'Neal.
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