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Little Big Town on celebrating 25 years of harmony with upcoming tour and “Greatest Hits” album
Little Big Town is celebrating 25 years as a trailblazing country music group, keeping all four of its original members.The band is set to embark on a tour in September alongside country duo Sugarland.
With their harmonious four-part vocals, Little Big Town has carved out a unique space in country music. They are a group where both fame and vocals are equally shared among members Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook.
The band’s Kimberly Schlapman said she’s never have reflected on their success but realizes they’ve achieved something unique together.
“I think that’s probably the key to why we keep going because we never, ever fully think that we’re there. It’s like the hunger to see what’s around the corner,” said Fairchild.
25 years and a “Greatest Hits” album
The band is marking its 25th anniversary with the release of their “Greatest Hits” album this summer.
“We want to do this for the fans,” Fairchild said.
With 32 chart-topping hits, they have a vast catalog to choose from, including favorite songs like “Pontoon” and “Wine, Beer, Whiskey.”
Little Big Town’s journey began in the mid-90s when Schlapman and Fairchild met in college. Initially, both Schlapman and Fairchild were pursuing solo careers in country music.
They began brainstorming and realized there wasn’t a mixed-gender group like The Mamas & the Papas or Fleetwood Mac. This led them to envision what such a group could look like — which eventually led to the creation of the band.
Their unique concept took shape and led them to their first record deal in 1999, with their debut performance at the Grand Ole Opry. Despite facing setbacks, including two failed record deals, their perseverance paid off with the release of “Boondocks” in 2005, a song that became their breakthrough hit.
“‘Boondocks’ was like the little star that could, and we just couldn’t believe it,” said Sweet.
Tragedy and triumph
In the same year as their breakthrough, tragedy struck when Schlapman’s husband died of a heart attack. The band members, including Schlapman, were at a radio station in Indianapolis when they heard the news after Schlapman received a phone call from her pastor and a police officer.
“She was screaming, and the four of us just laid together on the bathroom floor,” said Fairchild.
“I couldn’t even walk, and they walked me into the bathroom. Couldn’t walk for myself. So they carried me, and then they kept carrying me for months and months and months until I could walk again,” Schlapman said. “And that is why we’re still sitting here.”
After all they have been through, Little Big Town remains as close as ever. Schlapman remarried, Sweet and Fairchild also found love, and Fairchild and Westbrook married each other. Now, they all have kids and often raise them on the road.
As they celebrate their silver anniversary, the band members are grateful for their journey, and hope to spread the unity they’ve found among themselves to their audience this fall when they embark on the tour.
“Our legacy is the perseverance. Hopefully… kindness. You know, now we need some kindness back,” said Fairchild.
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Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
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To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
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Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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