Trisha Yearwood on Refusing to Be a Sex Symbol: 'I'm Not a Prude at All'

When Trisha Yearwood was a rising star in country music 30 years ago, it was expected that the people who surrounded her would help guide her career. But the Georgia native learned early on that she wanted to be in control of every aspect of her career, including making the decision to focus on her music, and not try to become a sex symbol to sell albums or concert seats.

"There was a photo shoot where the photographer was encouraging me to have an overly sexy image," Yearwood recalled to Parade. "And I'm not a prude at all. But it was right on the heels of 'She's In Love With The Boy.' I had a lot of 8-year-old girls who were singing that song. And I just knew what worked for me and for my crowd. I had to stand up to the team and say, 'I'm not comfortable doing this and this is not right for me.' And it wasn't anything crazy. But for me at the time, it was not in my wheelhouse. It wasn't something I was comfortable with. That was early on in my career and it was hard to do.

"Now, it's easy for me now to say, 'I'm not going to wear or do that,'" she continued. "But when you're starting out everybody has an opinion about what you should do. I'm very happy to look back on my career, right or wrong, mistakes are not. I made the mistakes, I made the choices. And that feels good."

One of the choices Yearwood made that has turned out well for her is releasing "Every Girl in This Town," from her upcoming Every Girl album. The song was Yearwood's nod to all women, young and old.

"I'm not really known for anthems," Yearwood acknowledged. "I'm married to [Garth Brooks] a guy who sings anthem kind of songs. I love those songs. They are so inspiring. I felt that this song was a girl anthem. Not in a preachy way. It's kind of every girl's story. We are all that little girl who has some kind of dream. There is that time in your life when you're a little girl and don't have any doubts yet. You believe you can do anything. 'Every Girl in This Town' champions that."

The 54-year-old didn't write "Every Girl in This Town," but she immediately resonated with the message the first time she heard it.

"My favorite lyrics in the song says, 'You got this baby. So what if you don't?'" Yearwood said. "I thought that was an important statement to make. A lot of times we are on our A game, and that's great. But sometimes we're not. In publicity and social media we tend to see perfection. And we need to also be told, "Hey, it's OK if you don't have it together today. That is also fine."

Photo Credit: Getty / Desiree Navarro