The Parents of LeAnn Rimes
Wilbur Rimes
LeAnn Rimes Belinda Rimes
Well, to tell you the truth, I am doing this part
of my website, not for the reason of the divorce, but as an appreciation
of what they did to grant the dream of their daughter. Now on to
the page.
Lets start at the beginning, before LeAnn.
Wilbur Rimes and then known as Belinda Butler were High School Sweethearts,
who were married after graduating McLauren High School in Pearl, Mississippi.
Wilbur worked as a retailer for an oil company while Belinda took a job
as a receptionist. They lived in their small, quiet town enjoing
their great life. They were the average couple, attended the First
Baptist Church, Wilbur owned a couple "coon dogs" and went out on hunting
trips with friends. Wilbur had two loves in his life at that time,
Belinda and music. Today LeAnn says that he had the perfect pitch,
although he says he only sings in the shower.
Throughout their quiet life, they wanted to have
a child. Over the next few years, they tried to conceive a child,
but had no luck. Belinda was about to give up having a son or daughter
when, poof, LeAnn comes in the picture.
LeAnn was born Margaret LeAnn Rimes on August
28, 1982 at the Rankin County Hospital. Before they knew it, only
18 months after this day, their daughter was already singing. The
Rimes' knew that their daughter had a gift, don't know why, maybe it was
from Wilbur playing all those records, or was it Belinda singing to her
all the time, we may never know. All that we do know is that LeAnn
was born to sing. Over the next years, LeAnn sang all the time, and
she sang dang near everywhere in that little town, the church, home, and
in shows around Rankin County.
The next thing in Wilbur and Belinda's life was
a tough one, they wanted to fulfill their daughters dream of singing, but
they would have to move so Wilbur could get a better job. They both
decided that they wanted to attempt to grant LeAnn her childhood dream
and so they moved.
Wilbur got a company transfer from Mississippi
to Dallas and the Rimes family packed up and moved to Texas and went to
work on LeAnn's dream.
Over the years after the move, Wilbur and Belinda
did all that they could to help LeAnn in her dream. While today,
LeAnn says that she drug her parents - kicking and screaming- into
show business. They took LeAnn to anyplace that they could find for
her to sing. Neighbors had no real idea that history was in the making
when they heard this little lady rehearsing.
We have all benefitted from the sacrifices that
Wilbur and Belinda have made over the past years. We all enjoy the beauty
of LeAnn, her voice and the emotions that she puts into her music.
Now if it wasn't for these two great people, who would be singing and doing
everything that their daughter is doing today??