Julie Roberts (born February 1, 1979) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer. Signed to

Mercury Nashville Music Corporation of America, formerly known as Universal Music Group Nashville, is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. It was officially opened in 1945 as #MCA Nashville, MCA Nashville and #Mercury Nashville, Mercury Nashville wh ...

in 2003, Roberts made her debut with the single "Break Down Here" in February 2004, a Top 20 hit on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

) charts and the first track from her self-titled debut album. A second album for Mercury, '' Men & Mascara'', followed in 2006. This album produced two non-charting singles in its title track and a cover of

Saving Jane Saving Jane is an American pop rock band from Columbus, Ohio, led by singer Marti Dodson. The band is known for its song "Girl Next Door". History Saving Jane's full-length debut, Girl Next Door, was issued in October 2005 on Toucan Cove. The ...

's "

Girl Next Door The girl next door is a young female stock character who is often used in Romance novel, romantic stories. She is named so because she often lives next door to the protagonist or is a childhood friend. They start out with a friendship that late ...

". In 2013, she took part in the Blind Auditions of fourth season of the reality television show '' The Voice'' but failed to qualify. Her comeback album ''Good Wine & Bad Decision'' charted on both US Country Albums chart and the US Indie Albums charts. Roberts has

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

Biography

Julie Roberts was born in

Lancaster, South Carolina The city of Lancaster () is the county seat of Lancaster County, South Carolina, United States, located in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area. As of the United States Census of 2010, the city population was 8,526. The city was named after the famou ...

, United States, in 1979. The daughter of an engineer and accountant, she began her life performing in

pre-school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical s ...

plays. She also was in school choirs and performed in a rendition of "My Fair Lady" at a singing summer camp. Roberts began performing country music as a child. When she was in junior high and high school, she toured with her family, playing at festivals in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. She also performed at area nursing homes (where she developed an appreciation for

blues music Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

); and worked at

Carowinds Carowinds is a amusement park primarily located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The park is owned and operated by Six Flags. Carowinds straddles the state line between North and South Carolina, adjacent to Interstate 77, with a portion of the park ...

(a theme park in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

) and

Dollywood Dollywood is a theme park that is jointly owned by Herschend Family Entertainment and country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton through her entertainment company, Dolly Parton Productions. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pig ...

. She also worked with 60- and 70-year-old men performing at nursing homes. Her influences include

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful mus ...

and

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. During her career Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood ...

. She first attended USC Lancaster in her hometown from 1997 to 1999 before graduating from

Belmont University Belmont University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporate ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, with a degree in business administration. Roberts performed in local clubs and restaurants until graduation, she began working for

Mercury Nashville Records Music Corporation of America, formerly known as Universal Music Group Nashville, is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. It was officially opened in 1945 as MCA Nashville and Mercury Nashville which opened on New Year's Day 1950 a ...

, later becoming assistant to label head Luke Lewis. During her tenure there, she recorded a demo tape with producer Brent Rowan during her off-time. Rowan eventually played the tape for Lewis, who was favorably impressed by the recording.

Country music career

Roberts was signed to

Universal Music Group Nashville Music Corporation of America, formerly known as Universal Music Group Nashville, is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. It was officially opened in 1945 as MCA Nashville and Mercury Nashville which opened on New Year's Day 1950 a ...

's Mercury Nashville division. Her debut single, " Break Down Here", was released on February 24, 2004. The song had previously been recorded by

Trace Adkins Tracy Darrell Adkins (born January 13, 1962) known professionally as Trace Adkins, is an American country music singer and actor. Adkins made his debut in 1996 with the album ''Dreamin' Out Loud'', released on Capitol Records Nashville. Since t ...

under the title "I'd Sure Hate to Break Down Here". Roberts released her self-titled debut album on May 25, 2004. It charted within the Top 10 of the ''Billboard''

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...

chart, peaking at No. 9. "Break Down Here" became a Top 20 single on the

chart, however, she never charted within the Top 40 after that. The two follow-up singles, "The Chance" and "Wake Up Older", peaked at No. 47 and No. 46 on the country charts, respectively. The album was then certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on December 13, 2004. In 2006, she released her fourth single, "Men & Mascara", which would in-turn be the title track to her second album. '' Men & Mascara'' was released on June 27, 2006. Although not charting a single from this album, it managed to chart even higher than her debut album. It reached No. 4 on the Top Country Albums and No. 25 on the all-genre ''Billboard'' 200. Included on the album is a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

's "

", however, it failed to chart along with the album's title track. Roberts and Mercury Records parted ways at the beginning of May 2010. She released her third album "Alive" on June 7 as an independent artist, with the first single being "NASCAR Party". In 2011, Roberts revealed that she was diagnosed with

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

signed Roberts to a recording contract in mid-2013. Her album ''Good Wine & Bad Decisions'' was the first full release for the label in 40 years. Roberts will release the album ''Ain’t in No Hurry'' on October 28, 2022.

Charities

Roberts made a donation of $124,250 to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital after she, along with contestant Peter Buccellato, won the $100,000 prize in the bonus round on the game show '' Wheel of Fortune'' on an episode that aired in February 2007.

''The Voice'' (2013)

In 2013, Julie Roberts took part in the Blind Auditions of fourth season of the reality television show '' The Voice''. In the third Blind Audition episode broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on April 1, 2013, she sang a cover of

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

's version of the

Dave Barnes David Mckee Barnes (born June 20, 1978) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released eight studio albums, including two Christmas albums. His most recent full-length album, ''Featherbrained Wealt ...

song "

God Gave Me You "God Gave Me You" is a song written and originally recorded by American contemporary Christian music singer Dave Barnes. It was released in January 2010 as the lead single from the album, '' What We Want, What We Get''. History Barnes wrote ...

". None of the four judges,

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine ( ; born March 18, 1979) is an American musician who is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and sole continuous member of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, for ...

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

, Usher or Blake Shelton pressed their "I Want You" buttons to turn their chairs and she did not qualify to the following rounds. Shelton immediately recognized the contestant and introduced her by name to the other judges.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Julie Roberts Web siteOfficial Julie Roberts UMG Nashville Artist Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Julie American country singer-songwriters American women country singers 1979 births Living people People from Lancaster, South Carolina Mercury Records artists People with multiple sclerosis Sun Records artists 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers Country musicians from South Carolina Singer-songwriters from South Carolina University of South Carolina Lancaster alumni