Little Big Town's journey to becoming one of the most important vocal groups in country music has been a long one. Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet first got together in 1998, and scored a record deal with Mercury Nashville. That deal yielded no singles or albums, though, and a subsequent deal with Monument failed to gain the band much recognition for their self-titled debut album. It wasn't until Clint Black's label, Equity Records, released their second album, 'The Road to Here,' in 2005 that they broke through at country radio with songs like 'Boondocks' and 'Bring It on Home.' 2007's 'A Place to Land' saw them jump to Capitol Records, where they scored another huge hit, 'Little White Church,' from their fourth album. The foursome scored the breakthrough of a lifetime with 'Pontoon', the lead single from their fifth album, 'Tornado,' which became their first No. 1 hit and landed them a Grammy award. Always looking to experiment with their sound, the group hit No. 2 on the charts with 'Day Drinking,' the first single from their most recent album, 'Pain Killer.' Little Big Town have also weathered an unusual series of personal ups and downs -- Schlapman's first husband, Steven Rhoads, passed away in 2005, and after Fairchild's divorce, she and Westbrook married in 2006.
- Founding Date: 1998 in Nashville, Tenn.
- Top Songs: ‘Pontoon,’ ‘Day Drinking,’ ‘Little White Church’
- Did You Know? Little Big Town’s very first public performance took place at the Grand Ole Opry.
- Further Reading: Top 10 Little Big Town Songs