[4][5] Shelby Lynne was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Jackson, Alabama, then Mobile, where she attended Theodore High School.

Her father was a local bandleader and her mother a harmony-singing teacher; as children, she and her younger sister Allison — later a country recording artist in her own right — sometimes joined their parents on-stage to sing along.

Critics generally regarded her as a promising talent, and she won the Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Female Vocalist in 1991, beating the other two nominees Carlene Carter and Matraca Berg.

She split from Epic and signed with the smaller Morgan Creek label, debuting with 1993's Temptation, an exercise in Bob Wills-style Western swing and big band jazz.

The label folded not long after, and she moved on to Magnatone for 1995's Restless, which marked a return to contemporary-style country.

One notable project that she assisted on was Vince Gill's 1996 High Lonesome Sound album, where she provided background, harmony vocals on the song "You And You Alone".

Her 2001 follow-up album Love, Shelby was produced by Glen Ballard and featured a slicker, more pop-influenced sound.

Many of the 12 tracks focused on dark themes, but there were also lighter songs such as "One With the Sun" (inspired by a conversation she had with Willie Nelson).

Her album Just a Little Lovin', released in early 2008 by Lost Highway Records, paid tribute to the late British singer Dusty Springfield.

In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Marc Weingarten wrote that the album "is a stark reminder of Lynne's empathetic skill as an interpreter".

[16] On August 18, 2017, Lynne released a collaborative record with her sister Allison Moorer titled Not Dark Yet.

Produced by British folk singer Teddy Thompson, it features covers of songs by Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Nirvana and The Killers as well as an original recording.

In 2004, Lynne was featured in a duet version of alternative rock band Live's song "Run Away."

Also in 2004, she sang a duet entitled "Can't Go Back Home", on Tony Joe White's album The Heroines.

She contributed to Forever Cool, a 2007 album from Capitol/EMI featuring contemporary artists in duets with the late Dean Martin.

Alongside Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Lynne performed a duet of one of Martin's best-known tunes, "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You".

"She expressed interest about working in film back in the January 1992 issue of Modern Screen's Country Music when we spoke for a story I teased on the cover ('Shelby Lynne: Is Hollywood Beckoning?')

She appeared in a 2009 episode of the Lifetime drama series Army Wives as a country singer trying to reunite with her son.