Michelle Wright

Michelle Wright (born July 1, 1961) is a Canadian country music artist.

Michelle Wright was born on July 1, 1961, in Chatham, Ontario.

Wright grew up in the small nearby town of Merlin where her parents were both local music performers.

By 1980, when Wright was in college studying counseling for the mentally disadvantaged, she joined a local band with whom she performed until 1983.

That year Wright started her own band.

In 1985, while performing with her band, Wright signed a record deal with Savannah Records.

The next year she released her debut single, "I Want to Count on You", which peaked at No. 48 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.

She performed with her own band until 1988.

Wright's debut album, Do Right by Me, was issued in 1988 and produced seven more singles, including Wright's cover of the 1974 Andy Kim hit, "Rock Me Gently", which reached No. 7 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.

The album's success in Canada led to a record contract with Arista Nashville.

Wright became one of the label's flagship artists.

She also had chart success in the United States in the 1990s, landing in the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts with "Take It Like a Man" at No. 10, "He Would Be Sixteen" at No. 31 and "New Kind of Love" at No. 32.

In April 1990, Wright's first American single, "New Kind of Love", was issued and became her first "Top Five" hit in Canada, in addition to peaking at No. 32 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in the United States.

Her second album, Michelle Wright, was released in July 1990.

That year, 1990, Wright was awarded Female Artist of the Year by the Canadian Country Music Association.

The following year she was awarded Album of the Year for Michelle Wright, Single of the Year for "New Kind of Love", and Female Artist of the Year again by the Canadian Country Music Association.

To support the album, Wright was added as an opening act to Kenny Rogers 1991 tour.

The album became a success in Canada.

Due to the success of her album Michelle Wright and single "New Kind of Love," Wright relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1991 to spend more time advancing her career.

When in Nashville, Wright began to record her third album, Now and Then, released in May 1992.

The album's first single, "Take It Like a Man", became an instant hit, reaching No. 1 in Canada on the RPM Country Tracks chart and No. 10 in the United States on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

In Canada, the song also crossed over to the adult contemporary charts, peaking at No. 18.

The song received the Single of the Year award from the Canadian Country Music Association in late 1992.

She won the Canadian Country Music Association's Fans' Choice Award twice (1993 and 1995).

In 1993, the album earned Wright the award for Top New Female Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.

She appeared on the CBS television special, Women of Country, where she performed "Take It Like a Man" and the Mary Chapin Carpenter song, "The Hard Way," with several other artists including Carpenter.

Now and Then went on to produce six more singles, including the Canadian number one hits "One Time Around" and "Guitar Talk".

The album also contained the single, "He Would Be Sixteen", which reached No. 31 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and No. 3 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.

It was awarded Single of the Year by the Canadian Country Music Association in 1993.

Also in 1993, Wright won the Fans' Choice Award from Canadian Country Music Association, which she would also win in 1995.

In 1994, Wright released the first single from her upcoming album, "One Good Man", which became her fourth number one single in Canada; but it didn't reach the top 40 in the United States.

Wright's fourth album, The Reasons Why, was released in September 1994 in Canada.

Plans for the album to be released in the United States were delayed and eventually cancelled.

The album was also released in Europe after a Wright completed a successful tour in mid-1994.

In early 1995, Wright embarked on a 40-city tour in Canada, which at that time was the most extensive tour in the history of country music in Canada.

In August 1996, Wright released her fifth album, For Me It's You, following the release of the first single, "Nobody's Girl", which reached No. 1 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks and No. 57 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

The album marked Wright's first album to be released in the American market in four years.

The album went on to be successful in Canada, producing three Top Five singles in "Crank My Tractor", "The Answer Is Yes", and "What Love Looks Like".

In 2011, Wright was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.

Wright's primary success has been in her native Canada, where she has charted more than twenty-five singles, including six Number One hits: "Take It Like a Man", "One Time Around", "Guitar Talk", "One Good Man", "Nobody's Girl" and "Crank My Tractor".