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Few singers have as much emotional horsepower as Trisha Yearwood.
In her career, Trisha has sold 15 million records; won countless awards, including three Grammys and a Daytime Emmy for her cooking show Trisha's Southern Kitchen; and been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.
Here, we revisit her impressive catalog and select her defining hits in our best Trisha Yearwood songs list:
XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)
In ‘XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl)’, the narrator longs to fulfill her wildest ambitions, despite knowing it’s a man’s world.
Playful and airy, the Thinkin’ About You track fully embraced the duality of being a free wheelin’ young girl and a determined woman of tomorrow. It became Trisha’s second chart-topper in the states.
There Goes My Baby
‘There Goes My Baby’ served as the lead single to Trisha’s 1998 LP Where Your Road Leads and reached No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
The soaring mid-tempo tapped into her signature vocal tricks, moving from plaintive verses into an arena-sized hook. “There goes my baby / Like the sun falling out of the clear, blue sky,” she laments on the chorus.
The Nightingale
From its piercing piano intro, you know you’re about to experience a moment. ‘The Nightingale’, a deep cut from The Song Remembers When, tearfully recollects past pain and a journey to healing.
“I have heard the lark over in the vale / And I've heard the lonesome whippoorwill,” she sings.
I'll Still Love You More
While acknowledging her lover’s unwavering affection, she vows she has much more to give. “No matter how much you love, baby, I’ll still love you more,” she coos.
Trisha delivers both delicacy and presence, so it’s now wonder it was another Top 10 hit from 1998’s Where Your Road Leads.
Wrong Side of Memphis
A restlessness radiates from a bluesy undercurrent. Off 1992’s Hearts in Armor, the Top 10 hit ‘Wrong Side of Memphis’ depicts a young woman rolling the dice and moving to Nashville to pursue dreams of fame and fortune.
Trisha had moved to Music City seven short years earlier, so she knew a thing or two.
In Another's Eyes
Love songs are a trademark in country music. With ‘In Another’s Eyes’, Trisha and her husband Garth Brooks soar into the rafters with a sticky-sweet ballad.
It unsurprising it climbed to No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. As their first big collaboration, it’s one for the ages.
A Perfect Love
Guitar rumbles in the center of ‘A Perfect Love’, a bright, jangly tune found on (Songbook) A Collection of Hits. Trisha’s vocals are equally crisp and bounce along the melody with a frisky looseness.
“We’re doing nothing but what a perfect love does,” she howls over elastic percussion.
Georgia Rain
The lead single to Jasper County, ‘Georgia Rain’ flips through a scrapbook of memories with wistful clarity. Trisha stands in as the narrator and recalls one particular relationship from her youth that forever changed her life.
“Just you and me down that old dirt road / No one saw a thing,” she sings.
How Do I Live
The greatest chart battle of the 90s involved this Diane Warren-penned power ballad. Trisha Yearwood and Leann Rimes both recorded ‘How Do I Live’ for the film Con Air.
Trisha’s version obviously culls her own years of wisdom regarding relationships, giving her performance a certain gravitas. As far as ballads go, it’s pure magic.
This is Me You're Talking To
The second single from Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love didn’t become the hit it should have.
Only peaking within the Top 30 on Hot Country Songs, ‘This is Me You’re Talking To’ goes directly for the jugular with an emotive, heart-rending vocal and teary-eyed lyricism.
She's in Love with the Boy
Trisha aimed for the fences with her debut single and hit a homerun. ‘She’s in Love with the Boy’ is a playful story-song about young love and living for the moment.
Off her 1991 self-titled first record, the fun-loving track became a No. 1 smash and set in motion her entire legacy career.
River of You
A swampy, front-porch picker, this Jasper County deep cut snarls its way through a toxic relationship that keeps reeling her back in like planets in orbit.
"There’s nothing I can do but fall into the river of you", Trisha exhales with a heavy sigh. There’s a sinister musical quality that is downright chilling.
The Song Remembers When
The title track to her third album, ‘The Song Remembers When’ explores the transcendence of music, especially as it relates to the past. A young woman gathers change at a counter when a song triggers a forgotten memory.
"We must have said goodbye,” she figures. Unexpectedly, she mourns the relationship all over again.
I Would've Loved You Anyway
If you’re in need of a gut-wrenching ballad, look no further than ‘I Would’ve Loved You Anyway’. Originally from her 2001 album, Inside Out, the song engages with Trisha’s sense of truth.
"Not a second I would change", she confides. Even knowing a relationship’s heartbreaking ending she would do it all over again.
Walkaway Joe
Delicate piano underscores Trisha’s finest hour. ‘Walkaway Joe’ chronicles a 17-year-old’s journey, from falling in love with a soon-to-be criminal to her first brush with heartbreak.
"He's the wrong kind of paradise, but it was just another lesson in life", she sings with authority. Vocally, it doesn’t get much better than this.
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