Faith Hill

Faith's Country Ambition

After a semester of junior college, Hill relocates to Nashville. "I really believed I'd just get on the Grand Ole Opry stage, start singin', and be on a bus travelin' the next day," she tells EW in 1994. She supports herself selling T-shirts, working as a receptionist, and packaging merchandise for Reba McEntire's company. In 1988, the 20-year-old (still Faith Perry at the time), marries music publishing exec Dan Hill, 29. In 1991, she signs a record deal with Warner Bros. before splitting with her husband in 1994. "I was young," she tells PEOPLE in 2000. "I just jumped in the fire way too soon."

March

Reading is Fundamental

In honor of her father, Hill creates the Faith Hill Family Literacy Project, which creates awareness of illiteracy in America and encourages fans to donate books at her concerts. Pat Perry, Hill's dad, quit school after fourth grade and never learned to read. "When I became an adult, I realized this world that he had never been introduced to," Hill tells PEOPLE in 1999. "I never knew how he got along without knowing how to read. He's a very intelligent man. I guess he recognizes things easily and has a good memory."

May 05

Princess Gracie

Hill welcomes her first child, Gracie Katherine, in Nashville. The couple welcomes their second daughter, Maggie Elizabeth, on Aug. 12, 1998. "We sing all the time," Hill tells PEOPLE in 1999. "We sing the Barney song, all the nursery rhymes you can imagine, country music songs, Rod Stewart. Gracie is into repeating everything right now. You can sing anything to her and the next day she'll be repeating it."

November 09

Crossover Success

With nearly 250,000 albums sold in its first week, Hill's Breathe – her most pop-influenced effort to date – debuts at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart.