Every Time Miranda Lambert Called Out Sexism in the Country Music Scene
A true wild card. Miranda Lambert is known for speaking her mind through her music — and she’s not afraid to get candid about the country music scene, either.
The “Bluebird” singer has been open about the sexism she’s faced over the years since she got her start as a contestant on the reality show Nashville Star in 2003. While she was still a teenager trying to book shows in her home state of Texas, she realized how much harder she’d have to work just because she’s a woman.
“The Texas scene wasn’t a place for girls at all back then,” she told NPR in November 2019. “Bar owners would hang up on my mom and say, ‘We don’t book girls.’ So, I would go to these places with my guitar and say, ‘Can I play during set change?’ [Collaborator] Jack Ingram was one of them that we’d always show up at his shows, and he would be like, ‘Yeah you can play a couple of songs while we’re changing.’ And people would be moving cords around my feet. It’s because I couldn’t get a gig — and then the bar owner would be like, ‘Well, she’s pretty good.'”
The “Actin’ Up” songstress released her major label debut album, Kerosene, in March 2005. It was certified platinum in the United States, but none of its singles hit No. 1 on the country chart. This pattern repeated itself again and again over the years, with Lambert’s subsequent albums receiving critical and commercial acclaim but little radio play.
When she released her sprawling album The Weight of These Wings in November 2016, the CMA Award winner knew that many of its tracks weren’t radio-friendly, but she wasn’t willing to compromise. “I walked into [my manager’s] office, saying, ‘I’ve got 24 songs,'” Lambert told HITS Daily Double in June 2018. “She said, ‘How’re you going to cut it down?’ I said, ‘We’re not.’ She said, ‘We’ll deal with it.’ Because I needed to say things, if only for me.”
Natalie Hemby, who’s cowritten many songs with Lambert over the years, is a major fan of her colleague’s ability to stand up for herself. “People are afraid to try s–t,” the Highwomen member told the Los Angeles Times in April 2022. “But Miranda’s attitude has always been: Hold my beer — watch this.”
Keep scrolling to see more of Lambert’s most critical quotes about the country music industry.
Even at the beginning of her career, the "Tequila Does" songstress knew that she didn't want to hide her personality for the sake of chart success. "I want to please radio. I want to have songs on the radio and I want to have No. 1 hits," Lambert told SongwriterUniverse in 2006. "Doesn’t everybody? But I want to do it and still stay true to Miranda Lambert. I can’t worry about [being different], because that’s where you get into the danger zone as far as selling out." Picture Perfect/Shutterstock
Country radio consultant Keith Hill sparked a ton of outrage when he claimed that listeners don't want to hear that many female stars on the radio. “If you want to make ratings in country radio, take females out," he told Country Aircheck in May 2015. "They’re just not the lettuce in our salad. The lettuce is Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and artists like that. The tomatoes of our salad are the females.” Lambert was one of the so-called "tomatoes" who understandably didn't appreciate Hill's remarks. "This is [the] biggest bunch of BULLS–T I have ever heard," she tweeted in response. Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock
When she got her first record deal, Lambert famously laid down the law before signing the contract. "Whatever they were going to have me doing that was uncomfortable wasn't worth it," she recalled to NPR. "I told everybody, 'I'd rather spend another decade in honky-tonks and do it my way than be the pretty girl for you.' Because back then it kind of was happening still, you know, changing the image and rewriting the songs and all that stuff." Suzanne Cordeiro/Shutterstock
Though Lambert is friends and collaborators with many other female musicians, she's repeatedly faced industry pros who've tried to convince her that only woman can be famous at a time. This idea was once so ingrained in her that she was initially reluctant to meet Ashley Monroe, who eventually became her bandmate in the Pistol Annies. "I was like, 'Wait, she might take my spot,'" the "Mama's Broken Heart" singer told NPR. "You had that chip on your shoulder when there's only so many slots." She quickly realized that Monroe's talent was too important to ignore. "I feel like that sort of started that whole train of me going, 'Instead of competing, let's just all lift each other up, man.'" During her first radio tour, one program director had a row of photos on his desk of all the female artists who'd come through his office. "He had 15 head shots on his desk and they were all girls and they were all lined up," she recalled. "And he was like, 'Yep, you're number 16 that's come here over the last two weeks.'" Ed Rode/imageSPACE/Shutterstock
Lambert has hinted at the sometimes impossibly high standards for "authenticity" that artists and writers face in Nashville. “I know that my roots shape every single song that I’ve ever written. I don’t think I can get away from it, even if I try," she told Songwriting magazine in August 2020. "Authenticity is the most important thing in this business. No matter where you’re from, where you grew up or what you stand for, I feel like it should show in your music, because that’s your roots. Country music obviously has a stronger opinion on that, for sure, but I like to believe people.” Scott Kirkland/Shutterstock
In November 2018, the "Tin Man" singer spoke candidly about it felt to hit No. 1 for the first time in years after she teamed up with Jason Aldean. “Yes, I had to sing with someone with a penis to get a No. 1,” she told The Washington Post at the time. “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. 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.” Rob Latour/Shutterstock
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