Sara Evans

Country singer Sara Evans grew up in New Franklin, Missouri, on her family's farm. By the time she was 6 years old, she was performing with her siblings in The Evans Family Band. When she was a teenager, she and her brother Matt formed their own band and headed to Nashville in 1991. After a few years, Evans landed a gig as a demo singer and caught the attention of Nashville songwriter Harlan Howard, who got her an audition to sing for RCA executive Joe Galante. He signed her to a seven-album recording contract, her first being the traditional honky tonk album Three Chords And The Truth in 1997. She followed up with more contemporary-leaning There's No Place That Far, with the title track becoming her first #1 single on the Country chart. Her big breakthrough, however, came with her next release, Born To Fly, after she tapped the Dixie Chicks' producer Paul Worley to further her commercial success. The album gave her another #1 with its title track and sold 2 million copies in the US.

Evans worked as a waitress at a Holiday Inn in New Franklin to save money for her move to Nashville. When she finally made it to Music City, she continued working for the hotel chain as her day job and fell in love with Craig Schelske, a fellow member of the wait staff. They got married in 1993, had three children, and divorced in 2007.

When Evans was 8 years old, she got hit by a car while crossing the highway that ran alongside the family farm to get the mail. Suffering a concussion and severe injuries to her leg, she was confined to a hospital bed for six weeks. The incident left her with PTSD, anxiety, and claustrophobia that followed her into adulthood.