Country music trailblazer LaCosta Tucker opens her musical vault to release her previously unheard version of “It Matters to Me,” offering fans a fascinating new chapter in the history of one of the 1990s’ most recognizable country songs.
Listen to LaCosta Tucker’s “It Matters to Me”
Country music has always been filled with songs that traveled unexpected roads before reaching the artists and audiences that made them famous. LaCosta Tucker is now opening one of those chapters with the release of her previously unheard recording of “It Matters to Me,” a song that would later become one of Faith Hill’s signature early hits.
Released August 27, LaCosta’s version was recorded before Faith Hill took the Ed Hill and Mark D. Sanders-penned song to country radio and made it the title track of her multi-platinum second album. For LaCosta, finally sharing her recording decades later brings a deeply personal piece of her own country music history into the light.
“I was driving down I-65 in Nashville listening to the radio when I recognized the intro immediately,” LaCosta recalled. “It was ‘It Matters to Me’—my song—but the voice was Faith Hill’s. Tears streamed down my face. I was heartbroken, but also happy knowing I had chosen a great song that became a huge success for a beautiful young artist. I’m so happy the world will finally get to hear my version.”
That story alone makes this release worth hearing. Songs move through Nashville in ways listeners rarely get to see, and sometimes a recording never reaches the public even when the song itself goes on to have an extraordinary life. LaCosta’s version offers a chance to hear another interpretation of a song country fans have known for decades—and to hear the voice that carried it before its more familiar recording reached the airwaves.
Listen to LaCosta Tucker’s “It Matters to Me”
The release is also part of a renewed creative chapter for LaCosta, following recent songs “Woman Behind the Wheel” and “Your Shadow’s Gone.” More than simply revisiting the past, she is bringing unheard music forward while reconnecting with longtime listeners and introducing her work to a generation that may only now be discovering her.
LaCosta first gained national attention after signing with Capitol Records in the 1970s. She went on to place 14 singles on the country charts and release five albums, with recordings including “Get on My Love Train,” “This House Runs on Sunshine,” “Western Man,” “Changing All the Time” and “Loving Somebody on a Rainy Night.”
Her career also included appearances on Hee Haw, Nashville Now, Dolly, Pop! Goes the Country, The Jim Nabors Show and other national television programs. She was twice nominated for the Academy of Country Music’s Most Promising Female Vocalist and later recorded for Elektra Records with producer James Stroud.
Today, LaCosta continues to perform and record while dividing her time between Nashville and Las Vegas. Country music remains a family connection as well, with LaCosta frequently collaborating with and sharing her industry experience with her daughter, country artist Cali Tucker.
There is something especially fitting about “It Matters to Me” finding its way into the world now. Country music fans already know the song. What they haven’t known is this part of its story. And sometimes, discovering the story behind a familiar song makes hearing it again feel completely new.
LaCosta Tucker’s “It Matters to Me” is available now on major streaming platforms.
