After finishing sixth on last season's "American Idol," U.S. country singer Kellie Pickler is ready for the release of her debut album.
"She grew up in this music," said Sony BMG Nashville chairman Joe Galante, whose company released the album. "And she brings an energy that you're just happy to be around. When you know the things she's been through, this woman has the right to be grumpy, moody, whatever. But that's never there."
Having had her mother leave her when she was two, her father being a career criminal and losing the grandmother who raised her to lung cancer, Pickler said the adversity drove her to pursue her dreams.
"After my grandma passed away, my dreams were all I had," the singer told People. "I lived to accomplish them."
