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Miranda Lambert
Background information
Birth name	Miranda Leigh Lambert
Born	November 10, 1983 (1983-11-10) (age 26)
Origin	Lindale, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, saxophone1
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Epic, Columbia Nashville
Associated acts	Blake Shelton
Website	MirandaLambert.com

Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983)² is an American country music artist who gained fame as a finalist on the 2003 season of Nashville Star, where she finished in third place and later signed to Epic Records. Lambert made her debut with the release of "Me and Charlie Talking", the first single from her 2005 debut album Kerosene. This album, which was certified Platinum in the United States, also produced the singles "Bring Me Down", "Kerosene", and "New Strings". All four singles were Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

After the closure of Epic's Nashville division, Lambert was transferred to Columbia Records Nashville for her second album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which was released in early 2007. Although the title track failed to make top 40, the next three singles ("Famous in a Small Town", "Gunpowder & Lead", and "More Like Her") were all Top 20 hits, with "Gunpowder & Lead" becoming her first Top 10 country hit in July 2008.

Lambert is only the third female country singer in history to have three records debut at #1 on Billboard Country Albums.³

Biography

Miranda Lambert was born and raised in Lindale, Texas. Her father, Richard Lee "Rick" Lambert, is a retired police officer who in later life became a private investigator in partnership with her mother, Beverly June Lambert (née Hughes). Miranda was taught about guns by her father at an early age and later became an avid deer hunter. Her parents took her to a Garth Brooks concert when she was nine and this started her interest in country music. Her father wrote and performed country music and she soon began singing in talent contests under his tutelage.

At age sixteen, Lambert began appearing on the Johnny High Country Music Review⁴ in Arlington, Texas, the same show that helped launch the career of LeAnn Rimes. Lambert quickly landed a recording session in Nashville, but left the studio after she became frustrated with the "pop" sound of music. She then went back to Texas and asked her dad to teach her how to play guitar so she could write her own songs.⁵⁶

While still in high school, Lambert made her professional singing debut. She fronted the house band at the Reo Palm Isle Ballroom⁷ in Longview, Texas, a long-running venue that has showcased Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, and is where Brooks and Dunn started out as a bar room band.

Music career

This section requires expansion with: Critical reception, musical stylings, any other relevant info.

2003-2006: Kerosene

In 2003, Lambert auditioned for the talent competition Nashville Star, eventually becoming a third-place finisher on the show. On September 15, 2003, she signed with Epic Records.⁸ Her debut single, "Me and Charlie Talking" (co-written by her father and Heather Little), was released in summer of 2004 as the lead-off single to her debut album. Titled Kerosene, Lambert's first album comprised twelve songs, eleven of which she co-wrote. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts,⁹ and eventually gained a Platinum certification by the RIAA for shipments of over one million copies,¹⁰ selling more than 930,000 copies up to July 2008.¹¹ Overall, the album produced four Top 40 singles on the Billboard country charts, including the title track which was a Top 20 hit. Lambert also toured with Keith Urban¹² and George Strait¹³ in early 2006. In 2007, she toured with Dierks Bentley and Toby Keith.¹⁴

2007-2008: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Lambert's second album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was released on May 1, 2007. She wrote eight of the album's eleven tracks,¹⁵ including its four singles. Much of the track "Gunpowder & Lead," the album's third single and her highest-charting single, was written while she was taking a concealed handgun class in her home town.¹⁶

In 2005, at the 40th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, Lambert won the Cover Girl Fresh Face of Country Music Award. She was also nominated for the Country Music Association's Horizon Award in 2005; in 2007, Lambert also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her single "Kerosene". She also won the Top New Female Vocalist award at the 2007 ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards. At the 2008 ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend won Album of the Year.

Lambert was ranked #90 on the 100 Greatest Women (of Country Music) by Country Universe in 2008.¹⁷

2009-Present: Revolution

In February 2009, Miranda Lambert went into the studio to record her third album, Revolution, which was released on September 29, 2009. Lambert wrote or co-wrote all but three of the album's 15 tracks; the album also includes co-writes from Blake Shelton and Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum.¹⁸ An EP, titled Dead Flowers, was released on September 8, 2009.¹⁹ The EP, available exclusively at Best Buy, features "Dead Flowers" and three bonus tracks previously included on limited editions of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Lambert debuted her new single, "Dead Flowers", at the 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 5, 2009.²⁰ It was released to country radio on May 4, 2009, and was a minor Top 40 hit on the charts. The album's second single, "White Liar", was released on August 17, 2009,²¹ and debuted at #50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In February 2010, "White Liar" became Lambert's highest-charting single, reaching a peak of #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

In 2009, Lambert (along with two other singers), became the new face of Cotton Inc.’s revived “The Touch, The Feel of Cotton” campaign.²² She has appeared in ads to promote cotton, and the website features a free download of the full version of her song, "Fabric of My Life."²³

On September 24, 2009, Lambert and her band performed all the tracks on Revolution in sequence at the Ryman Auditorium, five days before its scheduled release date.²⁴

In promotion of Revolution, Miranda Lambert will launch her first headlining tour; Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars will kick off in March 2010 and will include stops in over 22 cities, as well as a performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival.²⁵

Personal life

In 2006, Lambert began dating fellow country singer Blake Shelton.²⁶ Lambert also sang background vocals on Shelton's 2008 single "Home",²⁷ and recorded and co-wrote a duet with Shelton, "Bare Skin Rug", for his studio album Startin' Fires released later in 2008. Shelton also co-wrote 3 songs on Revolution, and provided background vocals on "Maintain the Pain."

Discography

Albums

• Miranda Lambert (2001)
• Kerosene (2005)
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2007)
• Revolution (2009)

Awards

Touring

Tours

Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars (2010)²⁵

Band

Lambert's road band and crew consists of the following:³⁶

• Aden Bubeck — bass guitar
• Chris Kline — keyboard, harmonica, pedal steel, percussion, guitar
• Alex Weeden — lead guitar
• Scotty Wray — rhythm guitar, lap steel guitar, resonator guitar, banjo
• Keith Zebroski — drums

Touring personnel

• Peter Link — backline tech
• Jason "Pone" Macalik — front of house engineer, backup bus driver
• Chris Newsom — monitor engineer, production manager, stage manager
• Chad Pavlovich — backline tech
• Jordan Powell — tour manager
• Jose "Puma" Raices — merchandise manager
• Aaron Luke — lighting director
• Charlie Sherman — bus driver
• David Sherman — bus driver

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Miranda Lambert

• Official Website