Natalie Raimondo was born April 23, 1981 in Phoenix, Arizona to Sarah Arnold and Christopher Raimondo. The family later moved to Sedona, Arizona, where Raimondo was raised. At an early age, Raimondo expressed interest in performing. At the age of five, she was enrolled in vocal and dance training, which she insisted that her cousin, Lydia London be involved in. By age nine, Raimondo was an experienced singer. Along with London, she appeared in several talent shows across the country.
Raimondo's first appearance was on the Mickey Mouse Club in 1995. Along with London, she was a regular on the show until its end in 1997. Two weeks after the show's end, Raimondo was contacted by a record executive after he had seen one of her performances and expressed interest in signing her to ______ Records. After signing her contract, Raimondo recorded recorded a version of what would be her first single, Blue. The album, One Way Ticket, was released in 1999 and sold 123,000 copies in its first week, which was recorded in SoundScan as the highest figure up to that point. It also debuted at Number 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and peaked at Number 1 on the Top Country Albums, eventually selling 8 million copies worldwide.
In 2000, Raimondo released a compilation album of songs that were originally meant to be a demo and mainly consisted of cover versions, ranging from Country to Pop versions. The recordings included songs originally recorded by The Beatles, Bill Monroe, Whitney Houston, and Dolly Parton.
In late 2002, Raimondo's third studio album, On The Side of Angels, was released and covered classic inspirational songs, such as Bette Midler's "The Rose" and Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life". The album went on to sell over 4 million copies in the United States, which was certified 4x multi-platinum by the RIAA.
In 2004, Raimondo's fourth album, Sittin' On Top of the World, was released only to receive mixed reviews. Upon its release, Sittin' On Top of the World debuted at Number 2 on the Top Country Albums chart and Number 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Raimondo's fifth album, Faded Love, was released in 2003. A collection of standards, most of the recordings were covers of Patsy Cline songs - which included "Crazy", "I Fall To Pieces", and "She's Got You". The album sold over a million copies and received positive reviews, stating that the song, "Me and Bobby McGee" a return to her country sound.
2007 saw the release of Raimondo's sixth studio album, Written in the Stars. Four of the songs would be featured on the soundtrack to 2008's Coyote Ugly, in which Raimondo made a cameo appearance.
Since Raimondo's debut in 1999, her voice and vocal style is often compared to that of Patsy Cline. Cline showed distinctive expressive emotion in most of her songs. Raimondo's similarities to Cline's vocal stylings brought wide interest to the idea that Raimondo was a successor to Cline's legacy. Many music critics have argued over whether Raimondo's vocals were a reproduction of Cline's original sound.
Raimondo has stated that Wynonna Judd, Reba McEntire, and Barbra Streisand have been primary influences on her career. She has given credit to artists from various music genres, mainly from the genres of pop and country. Raimondo has also stated that her main influence in her career is Patsy Cline. Raimondo had recorded five out of ten songs that had been hits for Cline for her 2006 album, Faded Love, as a tribute to Cline.
In 2002, Raimondo began dating ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) elichapman and dated until early 2004, when Chapman left Raimondo for openfemale. In 2003, rumors began to swirl that Raimondo was pregnant with elichapman's child. In late 2003, it was confirmed that Raimondo was indeed pregnant, and gave birth to a girl in early March of 2004. After many reported heated arguments, the two finally agreed to joint custody and have been on speaking terms for the sake of their daughter.
In 2007, Raimondo cut ties with her record label and filed a lawsuit against her manager, citing that they took over 2 million dollars from her in the preceding eight years. It was also alleged by Raimondo that unreasonable fees were created. Raimondo sought unspecified damages because it was unclear of how much money was lost in the previous eight years. In late 2008, the lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.
In 2004, Raimondo became involved in the Susan G. Komen foundation shortly after the death of her aunt(Lydia London's mother). In 2008, Raimondo lent her voice to Just Stand Up. All proceeds for the song benefitted Stand Up To Cancer, and has been active supporter of the cause since.
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