CMT News

Seventeen-year-old Alecia Elliott achieved her dream of becoming a recording artist with help and encouragement from one of her favorite singers, Lorrie Morgan. Elliott first met Morgan in a "meet and greet" line before one of her concerts. Nine years old at the time, Elliott pressed a tape of her rendition of Morgan's "We Both Walk" into the singer's hand. Minutes later, Elliott found herself onstage with Morgan, performing the song as a duet before thousands of people. How things have changed. Several weeks ago, Elliott found herself onstage with Tonight Show host Jay Leno, singing for a crowd of several million on national television. Morgan played a key role at an early stage in Elliott's career, and the teenage phenomenon isn't taking it for granted. "She listened to it, I guess," says Elliott of the demo tape she handed Morgan. "Or maybe she was just being nice, but she asked me to sing with her, and that was so cool of her. I was nervous, because she was my favorite singer. She didn't have to do that, and it shows what kind of person she is to actually let a little girl come up onstage with her like that."