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How Little Big Town Built 25 Years of Harmony on an Unconventional Foundation


A look at how Little Big Town have stayed together with the same lineup for 25 years, as they prepare to release their 'Greatest Hits' collection.

The group gave its first public performance at the Grand Ole Opry in May 1999, sang the national anthem a day later before an Oscar de la Hoya boxing match in Las Vegas and received its first concert payday — a $2,000 check after opening for Dwight Yoakam — four weeks after that. As Little Big Town celebrates its 25th anniversary with the Aug. 9 release of Greatest Hits, all four of the group’s original voices — Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild and Phillip Sweet — remain in the lineup, in a show of unity that defies the norm. In some of the act’s most effective pieces — “When Someone Stops Loving You,” “Silver and Gold,” “Leavin’ in Your Eyes,” “Tumble and Fall” — there are moments when the extra voice wedges itself in on a note that makes the harmonies thick and unstable with a slight sting of dissonance.

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