Singer Martina McBride and television personality Tim Gunn are celebrating their birthdays today.
Martina McBride, 48
image courtesy of INFphoto.com
Country music singer and songwriter Martina McBride turns 48 today. McBride's big-voiced ballads earns her Celine Dion comparisons. McBride was signed to RCA Nashville in 1991, and made her debut the following year with the single "The Time Has Come." She developed a pop-styled crossover sound and has had major hit singles on the Billboard country chart and occasionally on the adult contemporary chart including "Wild Angels," "A Broken Wing," "Wrong Again" and "I Love You." Four of her albums have also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart, including Martina (2003), Timeless (2005), Shine (2009) and Everlasting (2014).
McBride has recorded a total of eleven studio albums, one greatest hits compilation, one "live" album, a Christmas compilation, as well as two additional compilation albums. Seven of her studio albums and two of her compilations have received an RIAA Gold certification, or higher. In the U.S. she has sold over 14 million albums. McBride has won the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award four times (tied with Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert for the most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award three times.
McBride married sound engineer, John McBride, in May 1988. The couple has three daughters; Delaney Katharine, Emma Justine and Ava Rose Kathleen.
Tim Gunn, 61
image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com
Fashion consultant, television personality, actor and voice actor Tim Gunn turns 61 today. Gunn began appearing on Project Runway during its first season in 2004. He received a Primetime Emmy Award in 2013 for Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program. Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, a reality show in which Gunn gives advice to the fashion-challenged, debuted in September 2007 on Bravo.
Gunn played a version of himself as a reporter for the fictional Fashion TV in two episodes of ABC's Ugly Betty in February 2007, and later guest starred on Drop Dead Diva in August 2009 as himself.
Gunn joined Liz Claiborneas the company's chief creative officer in March 2007. In April 2007, Abrams Image Publishers released Gunn's book A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style. In May 2009, Gunn served as commencement speaker at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, and received an honorary doctorate from the institution.
He makes sporadic appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson's "Dear Aquaman" segments, helping or standing in for Aquaman (Ferguson), answering letters and dispensing advice. He guest starred as Barney's personal tailor on the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother.