Talented country singer Trisha Yearwood (1964-), with the blonde hair and powerful voice, was born on this day in Monticello, Georgia. She grew up on a farm and as a child she loved Elvis Presley. In high school, her musical inspiration was Linda Ronstadt.

"What's meant to be will always find a way," she said.

By 1985 she studied music at Nashville's Belmont College and interned at a music studio. Within a few years she was touring major arenas with Garth Brooks and releasing her self-titled 1991 debut album.

With the 1998 release of writer Diane Warren's How Do I Live and subsequent performance of the ballad at the Academy Awards, Yearwood has built a professional reputation for taste and integrity, bridging music genres.

As one Of "40 Greatest Women of Country Music," the award-winning singer has performed with Pavarotti and the Boston Pops. She continues to dazzle audiences and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in March 1999. Her hometown renamed Highway 83N the Trisha Yearwood Parkway in 2000.

She said of the honor, "I was proud that Monticello wanted to do that for me. The town has been nothing but supportive since Day One. And my parents still live there."

Calling herself "lucky," Yearwood has given back to the community with many memorable performances in her support of Farm Aid and Don Henley's Walden Woods Project.

"When you become famous," she said, "like it or not, you are a role model. People are listening to what you have to say. You have an obligation to give back what you've received."

Bravery blossoms with age.