Singer Lari White Has Passed

Singer/Songwriter, Producer and Vocal Coach, Lari White has died earlier this morning (1/23) after a courageous four month battle against a rare peritoneal cancer. 

Update 1/23/18
Her mom took to Caring Bridge again today and announced that "At 4:44 this morning, Lari peacefully took her "Rain Walk"..." referencing Lari's love of the rain. Lari was able to spend the weekend at her home with close family and was able to enjoy a sunny and rainy day, as that were her wishes. 
Our condolences go out to her loved ones. May there be a light in the darkness!


Original post:

Her mom took to Caring Bridge to post an update on Friday (1/19) and it looks disheartening:
"Last night Lari was admitted to a wonderful Hospice facility here in Nashville, where she has all the Care she needs to make her comfortable and quiet for this part of the Journey, and where she is completely surrounded by loving family…"

It was only in November when Lari took to her "ArtistWorks" space to tell her voice students that she was diagnosed with cancer:
"...The surgery revealed advanced Peritoneal Cancer. Since then a series of complications including pain management, pneumonia and a bowel obstruction requiring emergency surgery has kept me in and out of the hospital fighting for my life. This is, of course, my focus for the foreseeable future."

But she also encouraged her students to keep going on: "All I ask is that you keep singing! Make a joyful noise, because I believe Our Creator loves the sound!"

Lari came to prominence in the late 80's with winning "You Can Be A Star" on The Nashville Network. A resulting record deal with Capitol didn't give her the success she was looking for and she started singing backup for Rodney Crowell. It was him, who, after she got another deal with RCA, produced her debut album "LEAD ME NOT" with the rockabilly-tinged "What A Woman Wants" being its biggest success.



She triumphed even more with her follow up, 1994's "WISHES" giving her three top-ten hits, two again co-written with Cannon "That's My Baby" and "That's How You Know (When You're in Love)" and the Cindy Greene, Don Cook, Chick Rains penned "Now I Know." The album was produced by Garth Fundis and was certified Gold a year later for half a million copies sold.

On her third and last (besides a Greatest Hits Compilation) outing for RCA "DON'T FENCE ME IN" which she produced with Josh Leo, was the marvelous single "Wild At Heart," a co-write with Al Anderson.



Another stint came in 1998 with Lyric Street Records. With the title track, "Stepping Stone" (White, David Kent, Craig Wiseman) she not only cracked the Country top-twenty but also appeared on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Other singles were "Take Me" (Bob DiPiero, Stephony Smith) and "John Wayne Walking Away "(Austin Cunningham, Jerry Boonstra, Doak Snead).

Over the years she appeared in films like "Cast Away", Broadway Musical ("Ring Of Fire") and Cabaret Shows ("My First Affair"), producing artists and playing house concerts all over the country, including some appearances on Delbert McClinton's cruise. As a producer, she was actually in charge of the Platinum certified album by Toby Keith "WHITE TRASH WITH MONEY." She also started releasing albums on her own label, Skinny White Girl, like "GREEN EYED SOUL".
In February of last year, she released two EPs "New Loves" and "Old Friends" (both available through the links on her website) containing new songs and some re-recordings of her old hits, with some special friends, Suzy Bogguss, Lee Roy Parnell, Delbert McClinton, Etta Britt and Victor Wooten helping out.
To promote the release Lari visited Eric Dahl, the longtime host of Nashville's FOX 17 Rock & Review TV show.



Lari White is married to singer/songwriter Chuck Cannon (among many others "I Love The Way You Love Me - John Michael Montgomery), the couple has two daughters, M'Kenzy and Kyra, and a son, Jaxon.

To cope with the enormity of medical bills, some friends have established, a gofundme account in the name of Lari White and Chuck Cannon.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Lari and her family.






Sources: LariWhite.com, Caring Bridge, Billboard, RIAA,

Rhonda & Daryle go "Above And Beyond" - Duet Album "American Grandstand" out in July

Late August last year, "Queen of Bluegrass" Rhonda Vincent announced on her Facebook page that she's recording a duet album with 90's traditionalist Daryle Singletary and posted the above picture of them both in the recording studio.

Singletary, a mid 90's traditionalist, who had Rhonda singing background on his debut album on Giant and later on his indie releases was all excited “If you love traditional country music, and remember songs originally sung by well-known duet partners like George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, and Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens, this is a must-have CD that we are extremely excited about.”

Rhonda, who branched out from Bluegrass to traditional Country Music before, like on her 2014 album "Only Me" praised Singletary as one of the best singers in this generation of country music and went on to praise him even more: “It’s so fun to sing with someone who challenges me as a singer. The songs were given great thought, along with one that was totally unexpected. It’s one of the best projects I’ve ever been part of. I am so proud of this recording, and I cannot wait for the world to hear our wonderful creation, American Grandstand.”

Now about a month (release date is July 7th) before "AMERICAN GRANDSTAND" is hitting the stores, Daryle and Rhonda are heavily promoting it during CMA week (formerly Fan Fair) in Nashville with several shows. Being one of 20 acts not to miss according to music magazine "Rolling Stone," one of the shows they performed together at, was the "Music City Roots - Live From the Factory" Show hosted by Jim Lauderdale on June 7th, where the opening track of "American Grandstand," the Harlan Howard penned classic "Above And Beyond" was then shared to YouTube. First recorded by Wynn Stewart as a single in 1960, then by Buck Owens later that year, and then Rodney Crowell in the '80s, who celebrated his fifth number one song with the classic, it's nice to see that timeless song done as a duet.



Besides "Above And Beyond" and their current single "One" the list below reveals the full tracklist of "AMERICAN GRANDSTAND," the title track actually a new song actually written by Rhonda Vincent as part of their collaboration.

American Grandstand Track Listing:
1. Above and Beyond
2. One
3. After The Fire Is Gone
4. American Grandstand
5. Slowly But Surely
6. As We Kiss Our World Goodbye
7. Can’t Live Life
8. Golden Ring
9. We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds
10. Louisiana Woman Mississippi Man
11. A Picture of Me Without You
12. Up This Hill and Down

If you would like to pre-order the "American Grandstand" and get an immediate download of their current single "One," you can click here.

For more information about Music City Roots - Live From the Factory in Franklin, Tennessee, for a schedule of upcoming artists performing on the show and a direct link to see a streaming video, visit their official website - you may also find information on their facebook page


Sources: YouTube; musiccityroots.com; Webster PR; rollingstone.com; rhondavincent.com; darylesingletary.net