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LeAnn Rimes Fished ‘Blue’ Demo Out of the Trash After Her Father Threw It Away

Twenty-five years ago, a thirteen-year-old LeAnn Rimes became a radio sensation for her song, “Blue.” Although she was barely a teenager at the time, Rimes had the voice of a seasoned country singer. Rimes astounded the listeners with her unmatchable talent, especially as she added a bit of yodeling to the new song. However, if it weren’t for her “defiance” as a young girl, Rimes may never have become such a big hit so early on in her life.

Like any good father, LeAnn Rimes’ dad always looked out for her best interest, especially when she began chasing her dream to become a country star. The father and daughter received the demo of “Blue,” in the mail after Rimes recently performed the National Anthem at a sporting event. After hearing it himself, Rimes’ father decided it wasn’t worth her time.

“My dad threw it in the trash and didn’t let me hear it,” Rimes told Kelleigh Bannen from Apple Country Music.

LeAnn Rimes Sought to Prove Her Father Wrong

But this didn’t stop the aspiring singer. In fact, it only fueled LeAnn Rimes’ motivation to make something out of herself and the song.

“I was a very defiant child and sometimes that served me well,” Rimes shared. “When my dad left one time after he threw in the trash, he was leaving to go somewhere. I went and dug it out of the trash and I listened to it.”

While LeAnn Rimes agreed with her father that the original demo of “Blue” was “awful,” she wanted to prove to her father that she could make it a hit.

“It didn’t sound anything like the song that you hear now, but because of my defiance, I’m like, ‘I’m going to show my dad that this song’s great,’” she said. 

And her hard work paid off. Not only did her father end up loving her version of the song, but so did the rest of the country.

“By the time [my dad] got back, I’d put that little Yodel thing in there. Then he was like, ‘Oh, it’s like a different song.’ That’s really how that song came about, was this little girl who was just like, ‘I’m going to show my dad that I can make the song cool,’” Rimes remembered.

Rimes Reflects On Her Style As a Young Artist

Now, at 38-years-old, LeAnn Rimes has had many more hits during her career as a country artist, including “How Do I Live.” Looking back, the singer admires her style and courage when she recorded “Blue” as a teenager.

“I definitely had a very strong sense of my own artistry, I guess, or what I loved and what moved me as a child from very, very early on,” Rimes told Bannon. “ [‘Blue’] brought kind of the roots of country music into a genre in the 90s that was very, very different. That was a very different sound for the time.”

Twenty-five years later, the hit song is still a prime example of LeAnn Rimes’ unwavering talent as a country music star.