Sara Evans, American country singer
Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the Billboard country songs chart and has sold over six million albums.Evans was raised in Missouri and started performing alongside her siblings in The Evans Family Band. The group performed throughout her childhood and early teenage years in her local area. During her teenage years, Evans and her older brother Matt formed their own band before moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 1991 to pursue a country music career. In Nashville, Evans met her first husband Craig Schelske and briefly moved to Oregon before returning to Nashville. Upon moving back to Nashville, Evans found work as a demo singer, which led to her signing a recording contract with RCA Records. Her first album Three Chords and the Truth was released in 1997. It was followed by No Place That Far (1998), whose second single of the same name topped the Billboard country chart.
Evans reached her peak success in the 2000s with the albums Born to Fly (2000), Restless (2003) and Real Fine Place (2005). The discs sold over one million copies each and included the number one country singles "Born to Fly", "Suds in the Bucket" and "A Real Fine Place to Start". In 2006, Evans appeared as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars before subsequently dropping out midway through the season. After remarrying, she released a Greatest Hits package in 2008 and her next studio album in 2011 titled Stronger. It was supported by the number one single "A Little Bit Stronger". After the release of Slow Me Down (2014), Evans formed her own record label. In 2017, she released her first album through the label titled Words.
Nine of Evans' singles have reached the top ten of the Billboard country chart while 14 have reached the top 20. She has won accolades from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. She has also been nominated for several more accolades from both associations, including several nominations for Female Vocalist of the Year and Single of the Year. Evans has also received nominations from the American Music Awards, American Country Awards and CMT Music Awards.