Jennifer Nettles

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Jennifer Nettles is an American Grammy-winning country music artist. She is known primarily for her role as lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush. Prior to Sugarland’s inception, she also fronted Atlanta, Georgia-based bands called Soul Miner’s Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band. She also charted as a duet partner on the country version of rock band Bon Jovi’s 2006 single “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”, a Number One hit on the country charts.

Jennifer Nettles was born on September 12, 1974, in Douglas, Georgia. In this small-town setting, Jennifer became hooked on music at an early age and filled her ears with gospel, rock and the blues. Live performances soon followed and by the age of 7, Jennifer was singing at church gatherings, school functions and at the local theater. When she graduated from high school as the 1992 homecoming princess, she was writing songs and earning rave reviews with the Coffee Country High School Jazz Band.

As a college student at Agnes Scott College, Jennifer was working as a camp counselor when she and Cory Jones, her high school friend who was now at the University of Georgia, started writing songs together. By 1995, they were playing full time and their band, Soul Miner’s Daughter, was born. Performing as both an acoustic duo and with a band, they released two albums: The Sacred and Profane in 1996 and Hallelujah in 1998, both of which were composed of songs written collaboratively by Jones and Nettles.

In 1999, they were touring clubs when they decided to enter a Lilith Fair Acoustic Talent Search at Georgia Tech. They won the competition and were automatically invited to play at the Atlanta installment of Lilith Fair. It was a high point for the duo, but they would soon go their separate ways.

Before 1999 was over, Jennifer started The Jennifer Nettles Band. She focused on more personal and darker material for her solo work, which was apparent on her first album, Story of Your Bones. For her efforts, she won the Independent Musician of the Year award from Musician’s Atlas in 2000 and received feature exposure in Atlanta City Mag, Jezebel Magazine and The Album Network. With this success, Jennifer would release two more albums followed with a pair of live releases that were recorded for New Year’s Eve at the famed Eddie’s Attic music club in Atlanta. All this fame got the attention of a pair of songwriters who had an offer that Jennifer couldn’t refuse.

Kristen Hall and Kristian Bush were songwriters looking to add a lead singer. Encouraged by what they heard, they approached Jennifer Nettles with the idea of a recording fun and upbeat country music. Jennifer liked the idea and Sugarland was formed in 2003. Jennifer was convinced that Sugarland would be a big success and the bands first single, “Baby Girl” from Twice the Speed of Life, silenced the critics when it peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. At the 2005 American Music Awards, they won Favorite Breakthrough Artist, and a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist would follow, even though they lost to John Legend.

The price of success came quickly as Kristen Hall left the group, leaving Jennifer and Kristian to make it on their own. With critics saying they were done, the duo struck an even higher chord with audiences with their Hall-less 2006 release, Enjoy the Ride. The album sold over a million copies and Good Morning America chose one of their tracks as its new theme song. With Sugarland now an established music sensation, Jennifer was ready to try something else on the side.

After the success of Enjoy the Ride, Jennifer wanted to shake things up on the musical front, so she looked for a chance to sing a duet. She found a willing partner in Bon Jovi and together they released the song, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” The song was a smash that climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and cracked the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration arrived in 2007, bringing Jennifer her first Grammy and increasing her fan base.

As she works on Sugarland’s next album, Jennifer Nettles is also dabbling in additional creative projects. She agreed to give acting a try and to go head-to-head with the demented Chucky in 2008’s Child’s Play 6. Until her next soulful musical release or on-screen appearance, we’ll be looking forward to the next exciting collaboration from Jennifer Nettles.

Career

Sugarland was nominated for a Grammy award in the Best New Artist category. They did not win the award, but Nettles and Bush performed for the awards show in 2006, and Nettles presented both a Lifetime Achievement Award to Merle Haggard and the award for Best Country Group.

A duet performance with rock band Bon Jovi, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”, reached No. 7 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. The video for the song won a CMT Music Award in 2006 for Collaborative Video Of The Year. In February 2007, Nettles and Bon Jovi won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration. In 2006, Kristen Hall left the group and Nettles and Bush continued on as a duo releasing Enjoy the Ride in November 2006. Their third album, titled Love on the Inside, was released on July 22, 2008.

Awards

* 2006 CMT Collaborative Video of the Year, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”
* 2007 Grammy Best Collaboration, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”
* 2008 ACM Song of the Year, “Stay” (songwriter)
* 2008 Country Music Awards Song of the Year, “Stay” (songwriter)

* Jennifer Nettles Official Website
* Jennifer Nettles band’s Myspace