Though Julianne has been winning world dance titles since her early teens, her ultimate goal has always been a career in country music. Her newly signed deal with Universal Music Group Nashville (UMGN) is providing her the vehicle to realize that dream. “I’ve always wanted to sing country music,” says the 19 year-old blonde. “I’ve grown up with country music. I love how real everybody is, not just the artists, but the fans.”
Growing up one of five Utah-born siblings, Julianne says her family was sometimes referred to as the “blonde Osmonds,” earning a reputation for their talent and professionalism. At age 10 her parents separated and Julianne immersed herself in dancing. An opportunity presented itself to study performing arts in London, which started a period of intense training and being far away from family and in a fast-paced city, was forced to grow up fast.After five years in the U.K., Julianne elected to leave behind a blossoming international career and move back to the U.S. “I really wanted to sing and I knew if I stayed in London, I wouldn’t be able to do that; I would only be dancing, so I had to make a really tough decision: ‘Do I stay here and pursue a career that I know I’m going to succeed at? Or do I go back home, start from scratch and pursue what I really want to do?’ A lot of people told me that I was crazy and that I’d never make it.”
Talent, discipline and determination are a potent combination that generally prove skeptics wrong, and that’s exactly what Julianne did. She moved to Los Angeles, knowing she could earn her living as a dancer while pursuing her musical dreams.
She started making regular trips to Nashville in the rare time she had off from the TV show and the DWTS tour. Her Los Angeles management firm introduced her to management in Nashville, which led to her meeting veteran producer David Malloy (Eddie Rabbitt, Reba McEntire). The two teamed to record “Will You Dance With Me” for an American Red Cross fund raising project that benefited Kansas tornado victims. “It was so amazing,” said Julianne. “We released the record to iTunes and Wal-Mart the week I won with Apolo. The song received quite a reaction on iTunes and peaked at #8 on their country charts despite never being released to radio.”
Soon after, Julianne landed a deal with UMGN and a spot on the Mercury Nashville roster, a fitting home for a newcomer who cites McEntire and Shania Twain as her chief influences, both of which fall under UMGN.
Recorded in Nashville and produced by Malloy, Julianne’s debut disc reveals her appreciation for country music’s roots as well as her fresh-faced contributions to the genre’s future.Her sex appeal and sex scene and nude.She has a warm, textured voice that is equally suited to feisty up-tempo tunes and contemplative ballads, both of which can be found on her debut. “I love story songs and message songs,” she says, “but I also love quirky, fun, up-tempo songs that make you want to just get up and move.”
The debut single, “That Song In My Head,” is a buoyant effort that is incredibly infectious. The song captures the rapturous joy of a burgeoning relationship and celebrates the way a song can become the soundtrack for those emotions. Julianne’s voice perfectly conveys the sense of delicious expectation in the lyric.Julianne turns in a sultry performance on the sensual ballad “Hide Your Matches.” “The chorus is ‘I’m about to lose all I am, right here in your arms.’ It’s a romantic love song that is really sexy,” she says. “It’s really sensual and beautiful.”
Though she loves songs that evoke a smile, a sigh or an occasional dance step, Julianne doesn’t shy away from making music that says something profound. Among the favorites on her debut is a song called “Help Me, Help You.” “That’s a message song and it’s pretty intense,” she says. “It’s about a girl who is trying to help her friend who is an alcoholic. It says what I’d want to say to a friend in trouble.”
One of the songs on her new record speaks directly to young women. “’Jimmy Ray McGee’ is a really great song,” Julianne relates. “It talks about peer pressure and tells young girls ‘If you don’t want to do something, if you don’t feel right about it, then don’t do it!’”
‘“My Hallelujah Song’ is a Craig Wiseman tune,” says Julianne, “and I just feel like everybody needs a hallelujah song. No matter what you’re doing in life---whether you are working at your dad’s company, playing soccer or being a little ballerina---that’s your hallelujah song. It’s when you feel like you’re right where you’re supposed to be and I’m happy right where I am.”
Indeed, Julianne Hough is living her hallelujah song. After years of success in the dance field, she’s finally landed an opportunity to sing country music and she’s reveling in the opportunity. “I was scared that people would say, ‘Just because she got a little bit of recognition on the TV show, she thinks she can make a record,’” she confesses, “but I’ve been wanting to do this a long, long time and I hope the music speaks for itself.”
Indeed it does. Julianne Hough’s debut is a compelling collection of songs about the joys and challenges of everyday life delivered by an evocative young voice. It’s the perfect vehicle to carry her from her successful day job to the realization of a dream come true.
Every country artist once had a "day job" — that commonly used music business term for an occupation that pays the bills and fills the void between hopeful aspiration and bonafide success. However, never in the history of country music has someone taken a more celebrated path on the road to their country music dream than Julianne Hough (pronounced "Huff").
A triple threat as a singer, actress and dancer, Julianne is already known to millions of fans as the two-time professional dance champion on ABC-TV’s top-rated "Dancing with the Stars" (DWTS). The show, which pairs professional dancers with music, sports, film and television celebrities, has become a cultural phenomenon and Julianne its top star.
Though Julianne has been winning world dance titles since her early teens, her ultimate goal has always been a career in country music. Her newly signed deal with Universal Music Group Nashville (UMGN) is providing her the vehicle to realize that dream. "I’ve always wanted to sing country music," says the 19 year-old blonde. "I’ve grown up with country music. I love how real everybody is, not just the artists, but the fans."
Growing up one of five Utah-born siblings, Julianne says her family was sometimes referred to as the "blonde Osmonds," earning a reputation for their talent and professionalism. At age 10 her parents separated and Julianne immersed herself in dancing. An opportunity presented itself to study performing arts in London, which started a period of intense training and being far away from family and in a fast-paced city, was forced to grow up fast.
After five years in the U.K., Julianne elected to leave behind a blossoming international career and move back to the U.S. "I really wanted to sing and I knew if I stayed in London, I wouldn’t be able to do that; I would only be dancing, so I had to make a really tough decision: ‘Do I stay here and pursue a career that I know I’m going to succeed at? Or do I go back home, start from scratch and pursue what I really want to do?’ A lot of people told me that I was crazy and that I’d never make it."
Dancing Darling
Growing up near Salt Lake City, Hough is the youngest of Marriann and Bruce's five kids who, with their mom tour the state as White Lightning – a blonde version of the Osmonds. "She was just a ball of energy," her brother Derek tells PEOPLE.
London Calling
Hough's parents divorce when she's 10, and she and Derek move to London to train with the parents of future Dancing with the Stars pro Mark Ballas. He becomes Hough's dance partner and boyfriend. "She was my first love," Ballas says. While attending the renowned theater arts school Italia Conti, the trio forms a pop group called 2B1G (short for two boys, one girl). "We had the corniest songs," Hough later recalls to PEOPLE. "We had a song called 'L-O-V-E Y-O-U,' and we spelled it out with our hands." After five years in London (where she becomes a two-time Latin dance world champion), Hough returns to America.
Skating to Dancing Fame
Less than a year after graduating from high school, Hough joins the fourth season of ABC's hit show, Dancing with the Stars. Paired with Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno, Hough beats former boybander Joey Fatone and boxer Laila Ali for the DWTS title and mirror-ball trophy in May.
Racing with Helio
For the fifth season of DWTS, Hough is paired with Indy 500 champ Helio Castroneves, who beats Spice Girl Mel B. and Marie Osmond for the title. Their win is paired with headlines of a romance after Castroneves splits from his fianceé a few months after Hough breaks her own engagement to Zach Wilson. "They said I was a homewrecker," Hough tells PEOPLE. "But I'm pretty much the only one on the show who hasn't hooked up." As for her own relationship, she says, "If I had stayed in Utah, that could have worked. But I'm in a different place in my life now."
CosmoGIRL! Cover Girl
Although Hough's third season on DWTS is cut short when she is eliminated with partner, comedian Adam Carolla, she still makes headlines on the cover of CosmoGIRL!. Speaking out about her vow to remain a virgin until marriage, the 19-year-old tells the magazine, "I'm not trying to preach consequences here, but I think when you say no, down the line it will be a better decision."
Joining Country's Blondes
After dropping her country music debut, "That Song in My Head," Hough's self-titled debut album sells more than 67,000 copies in its first week, the best initial showing for a country debut since Kellie Pickler's in 2006. Of her multi-hyphenated career, the newly minted country blonde (pictured with Taylor Swift and Pickler) tells the AP, "I wouldn't take [DWTS] back, even though it might have slowed my singing down a little. I feel that now that I've mastered dancing I can pursue singing."
Country Lovin'
Hough dishes on her new romance with country crooner Chuck Wicks– who she got to know in the summer whey they joined Brad Paisley on tour. "I just got kind of lucky!" Hough tells PEOPLE. In 2009, after Wicks tells PEOPLE, "We're very much in love," the couple announces that they'll compete together on DWTS in 2009–a Dancing first!
Country Cred
At the Academy of Country Music Awards, Hough nabs her first singing award for Top New Artist. The DWTS pro earns a standing ovation and wipes way tears while accepting the fan-voted honor. "It's a good thing my dress ripped–now I have something else to think about!" she quips.
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