Grammy Award winning Country music singer Lari White died January 23 as a result of cancer at the age of 52.
Long before there was an “American Idol”, “Nashville Star”, or “The Voice” there was “You Can Be a Star” with Jim Ed Brown. White won the show in 1988.
Along with singing White was a songwriter, record producer – including the album “White Trash with Money” by Toby Keith, an indie record label owner, and an actress. Tammy Wynette, Toby Keith, Lonestar, Danny Gokey, and Pat Green have all recorded her music.
White appeared on Broadway as June Carter Cash in “Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash”. She has sung with the New York Pops, the Boston Pops the Atlanta Symphony and the Nashville Symphony.
Her music has appeared on “Big Eden”, “No Regrets”, and “Confetti”. As an actress White was a housekeeper in “The Unholy”, Greta in “XXX’s & OOO’s”, was Bettina Peterson in “Cast Away” starring Tom Hanks, “No Regrets” was a hairstylist in “Country Strong”, and was one of Santas helpers in “The Peter Austin Noto Show”. It had been announced that she would play the role of Caroline Reve in “Jubilee”.
She was born Lari Michele White on May 13, 1965 in Dunedin, Florida. She began her singing career performing Gospel music when she was just four years old.
White is survived by her husband songwriter Chuck Cannon and children.
feature photo credit: By Dave Hensley – https://www.flickr.com/photos/davehensley/15229867826/in/photolist-9mBdVG-9mBhUJ-9mBeEm-9mydPv-9my9iZ-9mBhaY-pcP473-9mygDR-9myaC8-9myd84-zU6LFx-5wkmCL-bzRs2n, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65776231