While most music fans weren't aware of Jillian Jacqueline until she released her single "Overdue" in 2014, she already had an impressive career in show business before she was old enough to enroll in junior high. Jacqueline was born in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, and spent most of her childhood there before moving to New York City in her early teens. A precocious talent inspired by the music playing on the family's stereo -- including
Patsy Cline,
Elvis Presley,
the Dixie Chicks,
Carole King,
James Taylor, and
Patty Loveless -- Jacqueline began singing at an early age and was performing at local coffee shops when she was only seven. When she was eight, Jacqueline recorded an album in her guitar player's home studio. A year later, she became part of the cast of Christmas from the Heart, a Yuletide revue starring
Kenny Rogers that ran for three months on Broadway. Jacqueline spent the next several years as part of
Rogers' touring show, and through
Rogers she was introduced to
Billy Dean and
Suzy Bogguss, who invited the young vocalist to join them on a duet single, "Keep Mom and Dad in Love," in 2001.
Around this time, Jacqueline formed a group with her sisters known as
the Little Women Band; the act toured extensively, but Jillian dropped out when she began to burn out on touring life and wanted to pursue a more traditional education. During her time off, Jacqueline pondered the notion of a solo career, and after completing her studies at Philadelphia University in 2010, she relocated to Nashville and began making a name for herself as a singer and a songwriter. In 2013 Jacqueline cut six songs with songwriter and producer
Richard Marx, and in 2014
Marx produced a single for her, "Overdue," featuring harmony vocals from
Vince Gill. The tune became a major online success, racking up over a million streaming plays. Jacqueline followed "Overdue" with the Jillian Jacqueline EP in 2016. After signing with
Big Loud Records, she released the single "Reasons," the lead single from her Side A EP which appeared later that year. For her August 2018 single, "If I Were You," Jacqueline paired up with
Keith Urban, returning a month later with a second single "Sad Girls," which she co-wrote with Nashville songwriting ace
Lori McKenna. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi