Mississippi-born LeAnn Rimes started singing when she was just 2 years old — and it wasn't long
before she shot to fame as a child star. But as an adult, the public scrutiny of her personal life
nearly drowned out her music. Here's how she faced the worst and came through it all, even stronger.
LeAnn Rimes certainly wasn't new to the spotlight at the height of her fame.
After performing in and winning her first singing competition at age 5,
she went on to compete on Star Search at 8 years old, in 1991. But,
just like it's been for many other child stars, the spotlight on her every move was scorching.
"I definitely see a romance here, don't you? Alright."
As she explained in a livestream,
Rimes' early fame meant that most of her fans developed a biased idea of who she was — or,
maybe more accurately, who they wanted her to be. She explained,
"I think that gets ingrained into people's minds of who they think you are."
Still currently holding the title of Youngest Grammy Winner ever, since she won Best New Artist
at the age of 14, she elaborated on the challenges of those early days, telling Tamron Hall,
"It felt like somebody plugged me into a wall socket and left me on.
Like, constantly on. And I needed to figure out how to unravel from that."
Despite her stellar music career, Rimes wasn't always feeling the love from the press.
She had run-ins with the tabloids early on, due to some tough times for her family. A year after
the release of her debut album, Blue, her parents called it quits. Rimes was just 14 at the time.
"I didn't have a lot of money, growing up,
at all. We had no money." "And I was able to buy a house for my family when I was 12."]
Shortly after her parents' divorce, Rimes found herself embroiled in a legal battle with her dad,
Wilbur. According to ABC News, the lawsuit revolved around $7 million that LeAnn
claimed had been stolen from her earnings by her dad. Wilbur filed a counter-lawsuit,
claiming that LeAnn had a problem with overspending. As the singer later recalled,
"I was being called a spoiled brat by some people. But, you know, people don't know me."
LeAnn explained to People that this period of her life
eventually led to issues with anxiety and depression.
Unfortunately, Rimes had yet to feel the full wrath of the media. In 2009,
she met actor Eddie Cibrian while filming the Lifetime movie Northern Lights and the two
struck up a secret romance. At the time, both of the actors were married; Rimes to Dean Sheremet,
and Cibrian to future Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Brandi Glanville.
"Everyone thinks they really know how it is with us. The bloggers, the tabloids,
the exes. But there's two sides to every story."
Rimes explained to People that the constant badgering from the media
became too much to handle. She remembered,
"There was something in the press
every week that was just so fabricated. Obviously there are mistakes that I take
great responsibility for. […] My whole life I had cared what everyone thought of me."
The brutal tabloid coverage led Rimes to suffer panic attacks,
but it didn't end her relationship with Cibrian. Once the affair went public,
the singer went through a grueling divorce from her husband, Dean Sheremet.
Rimes announced her plans to split from Dean in a since-deleted message on her website, writing,
"This decision was amicable and we remain committed and caring friends
with great admiration for one another."
"I was a very complicated situation."
Even if she did attempt to stay friends with Dean,
Rimes may have suffered professionally when she divorced him — at least, that is,
according to Dean. The dancer-turned-chef alleged to Nat's Next Adventure,
"When we were working together,
we were brilliant. The dumbest thing she ever did for her career was divorce me."
He went on to allege that he had been instrumental in helping her
write her most recent hit song at the time, "Nothin' Better to Do."
After living through what was arguably the most scathing chapter of her life, Rimes realized that
she needed to prioritize her emotional wellness. And the day after her 30th birthday in 2012,
she checked herself into a mental health facility. As the singer explained to Tamron Hall,
"It was the best gift I could've given myself."
Rimes recalled her experience in treatment, telling People magazine,
"It was the first night I was ever alone, ever. There was a lot of codependency.
And a lot of healing that needed to be done."
Thankfully, Rimes seems to have since made peace with her traumatic past.
And, as she explained, she learned to relish spending time with herself,
and even started prioritizing self-care over her career.
After growing up as a megawatt child star and a prominent figure in the tabloids, it's no surprise
that Rimes more recently chose to carve out a more private life. In 2014, the singer confessed that
her celebrity and its accompanying scrutiny had taken its toll, explaining to Fox News,
"I started so young that it was really, that's all I [knew]. […] My life has
always been very public. I've had to learn, as I've gotten older, how to balance that."
"I've enjoyed these last several months, just figuring out what I want to do."
When it came to her music, it wasn't until 2014 that Rimes was released from her 20-year record
deal and finally gained the professional freedom to make her own musical choices.
As she explained, she is constantly deciphering the best direction to take as an artist.
Rimes may not be churning out the hits like she did back in the day,
but that may be because she has since shifted her focus from making music
to writing her spiritual lifestyle blog, Soul of EverLe. In 2017, the singer explained that
anxiety had initially held her back from being an active blogger for years. She told Refinery29,
"I had to let go of the fear. I'm such a perfectionist and I've been one to
wait until things are almost perfect […] even though I know perfect doesn't exist."
"If we can keep our expectations in check, I think that's really helpful."
As Rimes tells it, the blog is an extension of her own healing,
which began when she sought professional help for anxiety and depression. She said,
"The [self-healing] journey has been so interesting. People are constantly asking
me what I'm doing, what I'm reading, [how I'm] taking care of my body, what I'm eating,
all of those types of things. I hope to touch upon all of that on the blog."
Yet another reason why Rimes may have stepped away from the spotlight is that
she is spending her time with her family. When she married Eddie Cibrian in 2011,
she immediately became stepmother to his two sons. And it's clear that the singer takes
family very seriously. It was even a major theme on her 2017 album Remnants. She told People,
"The message of love comes through this record.
We were writing about love from many different angles."
"How do I handle co-parenting my stepkids. Gracefully."
Rimes opened up about learning how to let go of her childhood scars
in order to become a good parent, telling Refinery29,
"To be around them, and to watch them have a childhood,
it's been amazing to see. It's been a really big learning experience for me."
"I think any blended family, it takes a while for, y'know, for everyone to adjust."
Based on a diary Rimes penned for USA Today, it's evident that she's happy
spending all the time she gets with her family. While it's clear that Rimes adores her step-sons,
it's possible that the singer is hoping to have kids of her own one day. In 2014,
when Fox News asked if she and Cibrian were trying to get pregnant, she said,
"It's not something that we're trying to
stop right now I guess — I don't know. We definitely want kids."
The couple also told Wendy Williams that year,
"I would love to have a child of our own. We both would love to, yeah,
we would both love to. Eddie's such a great dad."
Four years later, children were still on the star's mind. While
she told Entertainment Tonight that it's something she might consider in the future,
she seemed settled with her current family status. She said,
"I love my stepkids and I get plenty on my plate with them. So, I'm cool at the moment."
"I have to have my own space, a little time to breathe and just be by myself."
One of the most important things that Rimes discovered on her self-healing journey
was the power of meditation. In 2017, she even told ABC News that the practice had
completely changed her life. The singer reportedly centers herself with Buddhist
"Metta" — or "loving-kindness" — meditation, telling the outlet,
"The piece of metta where it was directing it towards yourself
was probably one of the hardest pieces for me. I’m my hardest, worst critic."
"No one's watching and judging, only your inner critic which I know can be the toughest."
But Rimes also says that her dedication to this focus has transformed her habits. She revealed,
"I used to not be able to sit still.
I had separation anxiety, big time. I used to not be able to sit by myself at all."
In 2020, Rimes shared via USA Today that she usually spends an hour and
a half meditating and preparing her meditation classes for Instagram.
Even though Rimes' stunning success was visible from the outside, it certainly belied
her struggles with her health. In fact, the singer suffers from occasional psoriasis [suh-RY-uh-sis].
And in 2020, stress caused by the Covid pandemic led to her first flare-up in 16 years.
But this time, instead of hiding her condition, Rimes decided to pose for a series of revealing
photos for Glamour magazine. Rimes explained her decision to bare all, telling the outlet,
"Maybe it's the fact that this year has really put things into perspective,
but I now feel like I'm at a point in my life where I just want to break out of that cage."
"I wanted to free myself of what I feel like I've had to hide so deeply for years."
The 38-year-old said that she wanted to show people who she
really was — without any of the extra stuff. She added,
"Now we can see how worthy and good enough we are without all of the bull. We're worthy
without the makeup and the artifice. We're worthy of love without having to work for it."
After being best known for her singing talent all of her life,
Rimes began to feel that she had lost control of her own image. After all, for most of her career,
she had music producers, agents and managers crafting a public image for her.
But in 2020, Rimes had an opportunity to change things up in a big way.
She performed on The Masked Singer, as the sun character — and walked away with the top prize.
"Oh my God, it's LeAnn Rimes. Grammy Award-winning,
legendary artist. So good to finally see you."
In a livestream, Rimes admitted that singing anonymously beneath the mask
helped her to shed her public image. She revealed,
"This was a way for people to not have this preconceived idea or storyline that
was connected [to] who they think I am and just truly feel my essence
and authenticity. It felt like the perfect, synchronization reset."
Saying she even remembered why she fell in
love with singing in the first place, she shared on the show,
"I kind of discovered it again behind this mask, and it was to give and receive love
and that's like totally what's happened." After spending years in the spotlight and
overcoming significant mental health struggles, Rimes seems to finally be standing on her own
two feet. In fact, as the singer explained to HelloGiggles, she learned to truly appreciate
herself — which she also discusses on her podcast, Wholly Human. She told the outlet,
"I talk about wholeness a lot, especially with the podcast,
as I feel like that has been my journey. Starting in this business so young,
I was trying to be so many things to so many people that I felt so incredibly fragmented."
Rimes said that she finally feels ready to acknowledge all of the different parts of herself
so that she feels whole again. She also opened up about this new chapter in her life to People,
explaining that it's all thanks to professional therapy and personal growth. She told the outlet,
"I know who I am now. And I try to keep things in perspective. […] Self-worth is key."
Even though Rimes has been focusing on aspects of her life outside of her career, she certainly
hasn't stopped singing altogether. In 2020, she even released a new album called Chant:
The Human & The Holy. As she told Billboard, the album was inspired by her meditation practice.
Apparently, the singer would record melodies and lyrics that came to her
while spending time in that quiet space. She soon realized the songs were chants,
and decided to create an album. Luckily for Rimes, as well as her fans, this inspiration
came at the perfect time — 2020 — when many people were looking for a way to find comfort. She said,
"I needed it for myself to help use my own voice to bring some healing to my heart."
"I wouldn't have ever been able to create an album like Chant: Human & The Holy, if it wasn't for
my journey. And every piece of that journey was purposeful."
Rimes is also reportedly working on another project that she claims will
be a real departure from her previous work. She told Entertainment Weekly,
"I don't have words for it yet. There's a lot of world vibe to this record.
I've never been more excited in my life about new music."
She may have been working her whole life, but it sounds like Rimes is just getting started.
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