Melissa Lawson

Melissa Lawson
Background information
Birth name Melissa Ann Lawson
Born (1976-04-10) April 10, 1976
Origin Arlington, Texas, United States
Genres Country, CCM
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 2008–present

Melissa Ann Lawson (born April 10, 1976) is an American country music singer. On August 4, 2008, she was declared the winner of the television program Nashville Star, a country music singing competition which aired on NBC.[1] Signed to Warner Bros. Records Nashville, she released her debut single "What If It All Goes Right" that year, and charted on Hot Country Songs with it. Although Lawson's label released her before she debuted her first album, she is currently performing and released 2 EPs in 2010.[2]

Biography

Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in Arlington, TX where she continues to make her home. Lawson is a working mother with 7 sons. In 2004, she tried out for the fourth season of American Idol, and made it to Hollywood week, eventually being cut in the top 75.[3]

Lawson was to appear on an episode of the NBC 2010 summer series Breakthrough with Tony Robbins dealing with personal issues with her husband in the wake of her fame. However the program was canceled from airing on television before Lawson's episode could air due to low ratings, and it instead premiered in mid-August 2010 for video-on-demand streaming via NBC.com for a limited one-month period and then ultimately on the Oprah Winfrey Network and on Australian television[4]

Music career

2008-present: "What If It All Goes Right" and label release

Following her win on Nashville Star, Lawsons' debut single, "What If It All Goes Right", was released on August 5, 2008 to radio. It debuted and peaked at No. 49 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart as well as No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100, due to legal music downloads. It was then re-released in November 2008, where it re-entered the country charts at No. 55, and eventually reached No. 43. It was the number one Country music download on iTunes and Top 10 for all genres within 24 hours of release.

Warner Brothers, as a major label, was experiencing challenges in the industry which led them to the decision to not promote new artists. In a mutually acceptable agreement, Melissa Lawson was released by Warner to pursue other opportunities. John Rich successfully produced a number of tracks for an upcoming release. Melissa was able to secure the rights to the recordings for future release. In 2009 Melissa and her husband Rick co-wrote "United We Stand" for their appearance on the "Breakthrough with Tony Robbins" show and were later nominated for two Grammy awards. Melissa has continued to perform at churches and private events as well from the local Levitt Pavilion stage and served on the Levitt board as a resident artist for several years promoting and performing a number of times including the July 4th celebration for Arlington, TX.

Nashville Star

Melissa Lawson was the oldest contestant among the ten finalists. She has lost almost 100 pounds since first auditioning for the show.[5]

She is the sixth "Nashville Star", following previous winners Buddy Jewell, Brad Cotter, Erika Jo, Chris Young and Angela Hacker. The sixth season marked the first time Nashville Star was featured on NBC, after five seasons on USA Network.

Songs performed on Nashville Star

Discography

Extended plays

Title Album details
Constant
United We Stand
  • Release date: August 3, 2010
  • Label: Bismeaux Records

Singles

Year Single Peak chart
positions		 Album
US Country US
2008 "What If It All Goes Right" 43 79 Non-album song

References

  1. ↑ "Arlington's Melissa Lawson wins 'Nashville Star'". Dallas News. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  2. ↑ "Lawson To Self-Produce Debut Album". Melissa Lawson's Myspace Blog. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
  3. ↑ "'Nashville Star' Melissa Lawson on her 'Idol' past, Katie Cook's cleavage, and that songwriting controversy". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  4. ↑ http://www.nbc.com/breakthrough-with-tony-robbins/video/rick-and-melissa-lawson/1243636/
  5. ↑ "'Nashville Star' picks Texan Melissa Lawson as winner". Smallscreen News. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
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