Melissa Lawson

Melissa Lawson
Background information
Birth name	Melissa Ann Lawson
Born	April 10, 1976 (1976-04-10) (age 35)
Origin	Arlington, Texas, United States
Genres	Country, CCM
Occupations	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 airs 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 just released her new Praise and Worship CD: "CONSTANT".^[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 5 sons. She is married to Rick Lawson who is also a musician and singer. He owns a successful roofing company he started in 2001. in November 2009 he became the General Manager for the state of Texas for a large commercial roofing company. 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.^[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 #49 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart as well as #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 #55, and eventually reached #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.

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

• "Something to Talk About" by Bonnie Raitt
• "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin (Bottom Two)
• "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper
• "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac (Highest Number of Votes)
• "This One's for the Girls" by Martina McBride (Bottom Two)
• "Danny's Song" by Loggins and Messina
• "My Baby Loves Me" by Martina McBride
• "Ready to Stand" by Melissa Lawson & Margi Howard
• "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar
• "Jesus, Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood
• "Something More" by Sugarland
• "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts
• "What If It All Goes Right"

Discography

Extended plays

Title	Album details
Constant	Release date: April 19, 2010 Label: self-released
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. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-nashville_0805gl.ART.State.Edition1.4d99dbb.html. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
2. ^ "Lawson To Self-Produce Debut Album". Melissa Lawson's Myspace Blog. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=373063418&blogId=504574987. Retrieved 2009-09-14. 
3. ^ "'Nashville Star' Melissa Lawson on her 'Idol' past, Katie Cook's cleavage, and that songwriting controversy". Entertainment Weekly. http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/08/qa-nashville-st.html. 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. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/news/article_1421491.php/Nashville_Star_picks_Texan_Melissa_Lawson_as_winner. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 

External links

• Melissa Lawson's Official Web Site
• Melissa Lawson's NBC/Nashville Star Bio

Persondata
Name	Lawson, Melissa
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 10, 1976
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death