in a Moment was released in August of the same year. The album's lead single "Living in a Moment" reached number one on the country charts in both the US and Canada. Three more singles charted from the album throughout 1997. The first was "She Wants to Be Wanted Again", which peaked at number 21 early in the year. This song had been recorded by Lee Greenwood, Restless Heart vocalist Larry Stewart, and Western Flyer prior to Herndon's rendition. After "She Wants to Be Wanted Again" came the number two hit "Loved Too Much" and the top-twenty "I Have to Surrender". Johnson co-wrote "Living in a Moment" and "I Have to Surrender", and once again served as producer. Stephanie Bentley, Blue Miller, and John Wesley Ryles were among the album's backing vocalists. Also contributing in this capacity were Doug Virden and Drew Womack, then recording on Epic in Sons of the Desert. Thom Owens of Allmusic wrote, "Although he is in fine voice throughout the album, Ty Herndon's Living in a Moment is bogged down by mediocre material that fails to given him a proper showcase for his talents." He considered the title track and "Don't Tell Mama" the strongest lyrically. Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly similarly thought "Don't Tell Mama" was the strongest track, but criticized the rest of the album as "formulaic". Colin Larkin of the Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music thought this album had "a shortage of standout material". The album's closing track "I Know How the River Feels" was later a single in 1999 for Diamond Rio. Living in a Moment was also certified gold in 1997. 19982000: Big Hopes and Steam Big Hopes, Herndon's third album, followed in 1998. Doug Johnson produced five of the tracks and Byron Gallimore, best known for his work with Tim McGraw, produced the other six. Herndon told the Journal & Courier that he considered Gallimore to have a more "understated" production style that put greater emphasis on his vocals than Johnson's production did. Lead single "A Man Holdin' On (To a Woman Lettin' Go)", one of the tracks produced by Gallimore, was a top-five country hit that same year. After it came Herndon's third and final number-one single "It Must Be Love", which also became his only top-40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The song featured uncredited backing vocals from Sons of the Desert. Jack Sundrud, formerly of