Lari Michele White Cannon (/ˈlɑːri/, LAH-ree;[2] May 13, 1965 – January 23, 2018) was an American country musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress.

In addition to her own work, White has produced albums for Toby Keith and Billy Dean, and has written songs for Tammy Wynette, Travis Tritt, Danny Gokey, and Sarah Buxton.

[3][1] White took piano lessons starting at age four, and continued to play throughout her childhood despite losing her left pinky finger in an accident.

[10] In the early 1990s, she joined a publishing house owned by Ronnie Milsap, also taking acting lessons and performing at local dinner theaters.

[9] White unsuccessfully auditioned to become lead singer of the band Highway 101 after their previous vocalist (Paulette Carlson) quit.

After attending an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) showcase in 1991, she was discovered by a cousin of country singer Rodney Crowell, who at the time was looking for a backing vocalist in his touring band.

[1] Co-produced with Crowell and guitarist Steuart Smith, the disc included three singles: "What a Woman Wants", the title track, and "Lay Around and Love on You".

[12] Smith also played guitar on the album, while Crowell, Claudia Church, Russ Taff, and Radney Foster provided background vocals.

[14] Alanna Nash shared a similar opinion in Entertainment Weekly, describing the album as "both dazzling in its diversity and confusing in its direction.

[21] Pete Couture of the Tampa Bay Times called the album "a meditation on love", and praised the vocal performances on the singles in particular.

[19] On May 15, 1995, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) gave Wishes a gold certification for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States.

[8] White said that she perceived Don't Fence Me In as a concept album with a central theme of "breaking down barriers" and "rising above tough circumstances", according to New Country magazine.

[11] The latter song's music video was withdrawn from television networks TNN and CMT after only a month due to mental health organizations protesting its use of a psychiatric hospital as a setting.

[29] Writing for Country Standard Time, McVey stated that "With grittier-style vocals, a lot of attitude and definite musical growth, White offers up an album that has finally seen her come into her own".

[30] Jim Ridley of New Country magazine praised the album's concepts and the cover songs, along with the slide guitar work of Mike Henderson and the vocal contributions from Lynne and Yearwood, but criticized Josh Leo's production as "slick and syrupy".

[31] White and Cannon co-wrote and sang backing vocals on "The Lonely", a track from Toby Keith's 1996 album Blue Moon.

[11] Her final release for RCA was a greatest hits package called The Best of Lari White reprising all her singles to that point.

[35] At the time, Goodman thought that making White the first artist signed to Lyric Street would help raise awareness of the new label, due to her previous chart successes.

[11] Lyric Street Records executives allowed White to choose her own producer, and she chose Dann Huff.

[40] White ended her contract with Lyric Street in 2000 when label executives wanted her to record in a more country pop style than her previous albums.

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock wrote that White "gives us reason to believe in classic storytelling and songwriting and makes a case that we should get to hear more of this brilliant kind of music somewhere".

Dave Scheiber of the Tampa Bay Times wrote of White that she had a "strong, crystalline voice that smoothly blends country, rock, pop, and blues stylings".

[9] Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly compared her voice favorably to that of K. T. Oslin,[15] while an uncredited review of Wishes in RPM called her "a belter with a soft edge that doesn't allow for tedium".

[19][53] Bjorke compared her voice to Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall; he also thought that the New Loves and Old Friends projects showed influences of jazz and soul music.

[52] Writing about her debut album, David Bauder of The Associated Press stated that it "cuts a wide swath from country to gospel to rock and roll...clearly on display is the versatility that's marked her career.

"[19] In a 2015 interview, White said that she found difficulty breaking through in the country music scene due to an unusually large number of female acts being played on radio at the time.