It’s a credit to both LeAnn Rimes and Trisha Yearwood, who both handled an uncomfortable situation with so much class, that (as far as we know) their competition for the song “How Do I Live” never got personal.
At the 1998 Grammy Awards, Rimes performed the song and then stood offstage to learn if she would win the Best Female Country Vocal Performance award. But Yearwood, who was in the audience that night, was also up for the award, for the exact same song.
When 1998 Grammy Awards nominees were announced on Jan. 6 of that year — 23 years ago today — it marked the first time that two artists were nominated for the same song within a single Grammy category. In the end, it was Yearwood who graciously accepted the Best Female Country Vocal Performance trophy at the annual all-genre awards ceremony.
“It was very uncomfortable for me,” Yearwood would say later. “The radio stations started having play-offs where they would play both versions and people would call in and vote.
“I was surprised the record went to No. 1 because of all the obstacles,” she added. “This was probably the most heartfelt No. 1 because we had to work so hard for it.”
Rimes’ version of “How Do I Live” also went to No. 1, but on the AC charts. She was the original choice for the song, but producers of the movie Con Air decided not to use her version of the track for the movie, instead hiring Yearwood, who says she had no idea Rimes was going to release it as a single at the same exact time.
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