Little Big Town is drawing renewed attention as the Grammy-winning country group enters another major phase of a career that has now stretched across more than 25 years.
The quartet of Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook has remained one of country music’s most recognizable vocal groups, building its reputation around four-part harmonies rather than a traditional permanent lead singer.
That approach has produced songs including “Girl Crush,” “Pontoon,” “Better Man” and “Boondocks,” along with multiple Grammy Awards, Country Music Association honors and Academy of Country Music awards.
But the group’s longevity is perhaps just as notable as the hits.
Little Big Town formed in 1998, and unlike many groups that have experienced repeated lineup changes, the same four members have remained together for decades.
Their story includes years of struggling for a breakthrough, record-label changes, personal tragedy, marriage between two members and eventually some of the biggest songs in modern country music.
As Little Big Town returns to the center of country music conversation, here’s a closer look at the four people behind the group and how they built one of the genre’s most enduring partnerships.
Who Are the Members of Little Big Town?
Little Big Town consists of four members:
- Karen Fairchild
- Kimberly Schlapman
- Phillip Sweet
- Jimi Westbrook
One of the characteristics that separates Little Big Town from many country groups is its vocal structure.
There isn’t one permanent lead singer.
Instead, the members rotate lead vocals depending on the song while the remaining singers provide the layered harmonies that became the group’s signature.
That arrangement has allowed individual members to bring different vocal qualities to different songs without fundamentally changing the sound of the band.
The chemistry did not happen overnight.
Little Big Town spent years trying to find commercial stability before finally achieving its breakthrough.
How Little Big Town Started
The origins of Little Big Town can be traced to Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman.
The two met while attending Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.
They became friends and began singing together.
After college, both eventually moved toward careers in Nashville.
Fairchild met Jimi Westbrook through mutual friends, and Phillip Sweet later completed the lineup.
Little Big Town officially came together in 1998.
The group arrived in Nashville with talent and ambition but quickly discovered how difficult it could be to establish a lasting career in country music.
Before the awards and arena tours, there were label problems and periods when the group’s future was uncertain.
Early Record Deal Failed to Produce a Breakthrough
Little Big Town initially signed with Mercury Nashville.
The relationship did not result in an album, and the group eventually left the label.
They subsequently signed with Monument Records.
Their self-titled debut album, Little Big Town, arrived in 2002.
The album introduced the quartet to country audiences but did not produce the commercial breakthrough they needed.
Singles including “Don’t Waste My Time” and “Everything Changes” reached the country charts without turning the group into major stars.
Then Monument’s Nashville operations closed.
Little Big Town once again found itself without a stable label home.
For a group attempting to support families while continuing to pursue music, the uncertainty became difficult.
Members took other jobs to make ends meet.
At various points, the possibility that Little Big Town might never become commercially successful was very real.
Personal Tragedy Changed the Group
The difficult professional period was accompanied by devastating personal loss.
Kimberly Schlapman’s first husband, Steven Roads, died unexpectedly from a heart attack in 2005.
Roads had been connected to the group’s career and was supportive of Schlapman’s musical ambitions.
His death left her grieving while Little Big Town was trying to establish itself.
The other members rallied around her.
The experience strengthened the personal connection within the group and demonstrated that their relationship had become much deeper than simply four singers sharing a stage.
Years later, Schlapman would speak about how important her bandmates were during that period.
The group continued.
And shortly afterward, their career finally began changing.
‘Boondocks’ Became Little Big Town’s Breakthrough
Little Big Town released The Road to Here in 2005.
The album became the turning point.
Its lead single, “Boondocks,” introduced the group’s harmony-heavy sound to a much larger country audience.
The song became a Top 10 country hit and eventually developed into one of Little Big Town’s signature recordings.
Other successful singles followed, including “Bring It On Home,” “Good as Gone” and “A Little More You.”
The Road to Here went platinum.
After years of uncertainty, Little Big Town finally had a sustainable commercial career.
The breakthrough also validated the group’s decision to continue working together rather than abandoning the project during its difficult early years.
But even greater success was still ahead.
Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook Fell in Love
Little Big Town also contains a marriage within the group.
Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook became romantically involved after years of friendship and working together.
Both had experienced previous relationships, and their connection developed gradually.
They married in 2006.
The couple later welcomed their son, Elijah Dylan Westbrook, in 2010.
Being married while simultaneously working in the same band creates an unusual dynamic.
Touring, recording and promotion mean Fairchild and Westbrook spend enormous amounts of professional and personal time together.
Yet their marriage has endured alongside Little Big Town’s career.
The other members have similarly described the group as resembling an extended family rather than simply a business partnership.
That closeness became important as the pressures surrounding their success increased.
‘Pontoon’ Took Little Big Town to Another Level
By 2012, Little Big Town had already established itself as a successful country group.
Then came “Pontoon.”
The relaxed summer anthem became their first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
It also earned Little Big Town the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
The song appeared on the album Tornado, which marked another commercial high point for the group.
Its success expanded Little Big Town’s audience and gave them one of the most recognizable songs of their career.
But three years later, they released a song that would become even bigger.
‘Girl Crush’ Became Their Defining Hit
In 2015, Little Big Town released “Girl Crush.”
Karen Fairchild handled the lead vocal.
The song’s title initially caused confusion among some listeners who misunderstood its subject.
“Girl Crush” is actually sung from the perspective of a woman obsessed with the woman who has the affection of the man she wants.
Despite the early controversy, the song became enormous.
It spent weeks at the top of the country charts and crossed over to a broader mainstream audience.
“Girl Crush” won major awards, including Grammys for Best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Country Song.
It also became one of the group’s most commercially successful recordings.
The performance showcased one of Little Big Town’s greatest strengths.
Fairchild carried the emotional lead while the group’s harmonies added depth without overwhelming the song.
More than a decade later, “Girl Crush” remains one of the recordings most closely associated with Little Big Town.
Taylor Swift Wrote ‘Better Man’
Another major chapter arrived with “Better Man.”
The song was written by Taylor Swift.
Swift initially kept her involvement private when Little Big Town released the track, allowing the song to stand on its own before her authorship was publicly revealed.
“Better Man” became another No. 1 country hit for the group.
It won Song of the Year at the CMA Awards and received a Grammy nomination.
The collaboration connected two different eras of Nashville success.
Swift had already transformed from a country star into one of the world’s biggest pop artists, while Little Big Town had become established veterans of the genre.
The group’s ability to make the song distinctly its own demonstrated why other songwriters trusted Little Big Town with important material.
Who Is Karen Fairchild?
Karen Fairchild is one of Little Big Town’s founding members and frequently handles lead vocals on some of its biggest songs.
She was born September 28, 1969, in Gary, Indiana, and spent part of her childhood in Georgia.
Fairchild attended Samford University, where she met Kimberly Schlapman.
Before Little Big Town, she performed as part of a Christian vocal group.
Her voice became particularly prominent on songs such as “Girl Crush.”
Fairchild’s marriage to fellow member Jimi Westbrook also makes their family story inseparable from the history of the band.
The couple has one son.
Who Is Kimberly Schlapman?
Kimberly Schlapman was born October 15, 1969, in Georgia.
She met Fairchild at Samford University.
Schlapman has remained part of Little Big Town from its earliest formation through every stage of its commercial rise.
Outside music, she developed an interest in cooking and hosted the television series Kimberly’s Simply Southern.
She has also published a cookbook.
Following the death of her first husband, Steven Roads, Schlapman later married Stephen Schlapman.
They have two daughters, Daisy and Dolly.
Her journey through grief, remarriage and motherhood has unfolded alongside Little Big Town’s development from a struggling Nashville act into a major country group.
Who Is Phillip Sweet?
Phillip Sweet brings another distinctive voice to Little Big Town’s four-part arrangement.
He was born March 18, 1974, in Pocahontas, Arkansas.
Sweet grew up around music and performed from a young age.
He eventually moved to Nashville, where he became the fourth piece of the Little Big Town lineup.
Sweet married Rebecca Arthur, and the couple has a daughter.
Although Fairchild often receives attention because of her lead performances on some of the group’s biggest hits, Little Big Town’s sound depends heavily on the interaction of all four voices.
Sweet’s tenor has been an important part of that blend since the beginning.
Who Is Jimi Westbrook?
Jimi Westbrook was born October 20, 1971, in Arkansas.
He grew up singing and eventually pursued music professionally in Nashville.
Westbrook’s powerful voice gives the group another option for lead vocals while also anchoring its harmonies.
He married Karen Fairchild in 2006.
The couple’s relationship is one of the more unusual long-running marriages in country music because they have continued touring and recording together throughout their marriage.
Westbrook also experienced a significant health scare in 2015 when he underwent surgery to remove a polyp from his vocal cord.
Little Big Town temporarily canceled or rescheduled performances while he recovered.
He eventually returned to the stage.
Why Little Big Town Has Lasted So Long
Longevity is difficult for any musical group.
Creative disagreements, money, touring pressure and personal relationships frequently cause bands to separate or replace members.
Little Big Town has avoided that.
The lineup that came together in 1998 remains intact more than 25 years later.
There have been health problems.
There has been grief.
There have been marriages, children, career disappointments and enormous success.
Yet Fairchild, Schlapman, Sweet and Westbrook have continued working together.
One reason may be the group’s unusual musical structure.
Because there is no permanent lead singer, Little Big Town operates more collaboratively than many groups built around a single front person.
Different voices can move forward depending on the song.
The group’s identity belongs to the combination rather than one individual.
Little Big Town’s Awards and Career Achievements
Over the course of its career, Little Big Town has accumulated some of country music’s biggest honors.
The group has won multiple Grammy Awards.
It has also received repeated honors from the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music.
Little Big Town dominated the Vocal Group of the Year category at the CMA Awards during portions of the 2010s.
Their albums have produced platinum-selling singles, No. 1 hits and songs that crossed beyond traditional country audiences.
The group was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2014, one of country music’s most important institutional honors.
That induction carried particular meaning for four musicians who had spent years wondering whether their Nashville career would ever work.
More Than 25 Years With the Same Four Voices
Little Big Town’s history is ultimately a story of persistence.
The group did not arrive in Nashville and immediately dominate country radio.
Their first label relationship failed to produce an album.
Their debut album didn’t create a breakthrough.
They lost another record deal.
Members took outside jobs.
Personal tragedy struck.
And for years, success remained uncertain.
Then “Boondocks” connected.
“Pontoon” made them bigger.
“Girl Crush” became a phenomenon.
“Better Man” extended the run.
Along the way, the four singers developed into one of the most recognizable harmony groups in modern country music.
Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook are no longer young Nashville hopefuls wondering whether the band will survive.
They are veterans whose career now spans generations of country music.
The songs are an important part of that legacy.
But so is the fact that after more than a quarter-century of professional and personal changes, Little Big Town is still Little Big Town, with the same four people who built it together.
Disclaimer
This article is based on publicly available biographical information, career records and credible entertainment reporting concerning Little Big Town and its members. Details concerning future performances, recordings, touring schedules or other professional plans may change as the group or its representatives release additional information.
This article is intended for general informational and entertainment purposes and does not imply that any member of Little Big Town has died, retired or left the group.