Singer Jamie O'Neal

Celebrities, Celebrity Q&A, People
on May 6, 2001
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I just love Jamie O'Neal's song There is no Arizona. What can you tell me about her? Where is she from?
—Renee W., Arizona

Born in Sydney, Australia, Jamie O'Neal's family moved to Las Vegas when she was 7 to perform in such places as the Golden Nugget and MGM Grand. O'Neal, 32, performed onstage with her parents, Julie and Jimmy Murphy, and sister Samantha. After Las Vegas, they spent the next few years touring America in a motor home, opening for acts such as Dolly Parton and the Oak Ridge Boys. "We did gospel songs, country songs, and we had a family act," she says. "We were kind of like the Partridge Family. My mom made our outfits." She spent her high school years at Beverly Hills High, where actors David Schwimmer and Jonathan Silverman were among her classmates. She returned to Australia after graduating and sang backup with pop singer Kylie Minogue and performed in a play with Russell Crowe. Her mother sent Jamie's demo tape to a music executive in Nashville, Tenn., and publishing and record deals soon followed, as did a move to Nashville. She married singer Rodney Good last year.