LeAnn Rimes at 13: The Moment “Blue” Shook Nashville It’s not every day a 13-year-old storms into Nashville and forces the entire country music world to take notice. In 1996, LeAnn Rimes wasn’t just a gifted kid with a big voice — she was a phenomenon. With her debut single “Blue,” a song written nearly forty years earlier by Bill Mack, she stunned audiences by singing with the poise and heartbreak of a woman decades her senior. By year’s end, she had earned two CMA nominations — Single of the Year for “Blue” and the Horizon Award — making her the youngest nominee in the organization’s history. A Dusty Song, a New Voice “Blue” was never meant to be a hit.
