Miranda Lambert is a Grammy-winning country superstar. But despite her powerhouse talent and countless accolades, she still faces the wrath of the patriarchy.
The 35-year-old singer opened up to The Washington Post about the gender disparity that exists in country music, revealing that only after working with fellow country artist Jason Aldean on their summer hit, “Drowns the Whiskey,” was she able to reach no. 1 status on the radio.
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“Yes, I had to sing with someone with a penis to get a number one,” Lambert told the Post. “I do like this person, Jason Aldean, a lot … so it was a great song with an old friend.”
The tune, which debuted in May, quickly shot to the top just 3 months later. However, prior to this summer, the star hasn’t had a no. 1 track on the radio since her single “Automatic” rose to the top spot back in June of 2014.
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Given her astronomical success – sold out arena tours, two Grammy awards, multi-platinum albums, and an insanely loyal fan base — it’s surprising that songstress is struggling to get airplay for her songs. And Lambert agrees.
“It is interesting that I haven’t had even a Top 20 in a long, long time. And then it goes no. 1 because it’s a dude,” she said. “But you know – if we went and looked at how many singles or records were sold for the Top 10 songs right now, I’d probably triple it on record sales. So, it doesn’t matter.”
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As Lambert’s comments seem to demonstrate, it’s not easy being a woman in the country music industry. During the past few years, the country music radio airwaves have been so heavily-dominated by male artists like Sam Hunt, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett, and even her ex Blake Shelton that some have nicknamed the genre “bro-country” as a result.
However, thanks to Lambert and a new generation of female artists leading the way, namely Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, and Maddie & Tae, the country music scene is starting to change.
Lambert is up for three awards tonight at the 2018 CMAs in Nashville. She is set to perform alongside Aldean, where they’ll sing “Drowns the Whiskey,” which is also nominated for Single of the Year and Musical Event of the Year. The country singer is nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year as well.
Luckily, the 35-year-old isn’t the only one speaking up on behalf of women in the field. Fellow country rockstar Carrie Underwood has also spoken at length about the dearth of female artists, calling for the industry to change its tune.
“Think about all of the little girls that are sitting at home saying, ‘I want to be a country music singer.’ What do you tell them?” she said in September. “What do you do? How do you look at them and say, ‘Well, just work hard, sweetie, and you can do it.’ When that’s not the case right now?”
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