Martina McBride (born Martina Mariea Schiff on July 29, 1966, in
Sharon, Kansas) is an American
country music singer and songwriter. McBride has been called the "
Céline Dion of Country Music" for her big-voiced ballads and
soprano range.
McBride was signed to RCA Records in 1991 and made her debut the following year as a neo-traditionalist country singer with the single, "The Time Has Come." It was not until 1997, when she released her fourth album, Evolution, that she broke through into the country music industry with a new pop-styled crossover sound, similar to that of Faith Hill and Shania Twain. From that point on, McBride has had a string of major hit singles on the Billboard country chart and occasionally on the adult contemporary chart. Five of these singles went to No. 1 on the country chart between 1995 and 2001, and one peaked at No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart in 2003.
McBride has recorded a total of nine studio albums, one "greatest hits" compilation, one "live" album, a "Christmas" compilation, as well as two additional compilation albums. Seven of her studio albums and two of her compilations have received an RIAA certification of "Gold", or higher. Worldwide, she has sold over 18 million albums. In addition, Martina has won the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award four times (tied with Reba McEntire for the most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award three times.
Early life
McBride was born
Martina Mariea Schiff in
Sharon, Kansas, to Daryl and Jeanne (née Clark) Schiff on July 29, 1966. She has two brothers, Martin and Steve, who currently play in her concert band, and a sister, Gina.
She was raised in Sharon, Kansas, a small town with population of about 200. Her father, who was a farmer and cabinetry shop owner, exposed McBride to country music at a young age. Listening to country music helped her acquire a love for singing. After school, she would spend hours singing along to the records of such popular artists as Reba McEntire, Linda Ronstadt, Juice Newton, Jeanne Pruett, Connie Smith and Patsy Cline.
Around the age of 8 or 9, McBride began singing with a band her father fronted, "The Schiffters." As Schiff grew older her role in the band progressively increased, from simply singing, to also playing keyboard with them. She enjoyed performing in her early years.
After marrying, the couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1989 with the hope of beginning a career in country music. John McBride joined Garth Brooks's sound crew and later became his concert production manager. Martina occasionally joined her husband on the road and helped sell Garth Brooks souvenirs. Unlike her later country pop-influenced albums, The Time Has Come featured honky tonk and country folk influences. "Independence Day" won Video of the Year and Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards. After it, the fourth and fifth singles from The Way That I Am were less successful: "Heart Trouble" peaked at number 21, and "Where I Used to Have a Heart" fell short of top 40. After these two songs were released, she had her second number one on the country charts with "A Broken Wing", the lead-off to her album Evolution. This album went on to produce four more top ten hits at country radio: a re-release of "Valentine", "Happy Girl", "Wrong Again" (which also went to number one) and "Whatever You Say". It included most of her major hits to that point, and the album track "Strangers" from the album The Way That I Am, which she put on the album because she felt that it should have been a single. The album also included four new songs, all of which made top ten on the country music charts between 2001 and 2003: "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues", "Blessed (Martina McBride song)" (her fifth number one), "Where Would You Be" and "Concrete Angel". In between the latter two, she also sang a guest vocal on Andy Griggs' 2002 single "Practice Life". The album included cover versions of country music standards, such as Hank Williams' "You Win Again," Loretta Lynn's "You Ain't Woman Enough," and Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night." To make the album fit its older style, McBride and her husband hired older Nashville session players and outdated analog equipment. The album sold over 250,000 copies within its first week, the highest sales start for a Martina McBride album.
McBride later joined Canadian Idol on a tour in the Spring.
In 2007, McBride also served as a guest coach on Fox Networks television series, American Idol.
In 2007, McBride released her eighth studio album, Waking Up Laughing. It was the first album in which McBride co-wrote some of the tracks. She set up her Waking Up Laughing Tour in 2007, which included country artists Rodney Atkins, Little Big Town, and Jason Michael Carroll.
McBride recently recorded an electronically-produced duet with the late Elvis Presley, performing his song "Blue Christmas" as a duet with him on his latest compilation, The Elvis Presley Christmas Duets. A compilation collection entitled was released on December 16, 2008 as part of Sony BMG Playlist series. The album features 11 previously released tracks and three unreleased tracks.
2009-2010: Shine
Martina McBride wrapped up production of her tenth studio album in late 2008. The first single, "
Ride", was released to radio in October 2008 and debuted at No. No. 43 on the Hot Country Songs chart. It barely missed the Top 10 on the chart, peaking at number eleven in March 2009. A music video produced by Kristin Barlowe was also released at the end of the year. The album,
Shine, was released by RCA Records on March 24, 2009, and debuted at the top of the U.S. Country album chart and number 10 on the Billboard 200. McBride co-produced the album with
Dann Huff, and it featured "Sunny Side Up", a song that she co-wrote. The second single, "
I Just Call You Mine", was released in May 2009 and reached the Top 20. The third single from
Shine was "
Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong", which the Warren Brothers co-wrote with
Robert Ellis Orrall and
Love and Theft member Stehen Barker Liles.
McBride also initiated the Shine All Night Tour, a co-headlining venture with fellow country star and friend Trace Adkins and opening act Sarah Buxton. The tour began in November 2009 and ended in May 2010.
On June 10, 2010, Billboard announced that McBride had collaborated on a song with Kid Rock. In late June 2010, Martina was nominated for a Teen Choice Award, "Favorite Country Female Artist", alongside country stars Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift & Gretchen Wilson.
In late 2010 Martina McBride was nominated for 2 American Country Awards (Best Female Single & Touring Artist of the year w/ Trace Adkins.) Along with the ACA nominations, she received her 14th Female Vocalist nomination for Country Music Association in October.
2010–2011
McBride exited RCA in November 2010 and signed with
Republic Nashville. She began working on a new studio album with producer
Byron Gallimore. Her first single for Republic Nashville is "
Teenage Daughters", which she also co-wrote with the Warren Brothers. McBride told
Country Weekly that she co-wrote eight of the eleven songs on the album; she decided to write more frequently because she felt more confident in her songwriting ability after "Anyway" had become a hit. The album is projected to be released on October 18th, 2011.
On February 13, 2011, she paid tribute to Aretha Franklin during the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. She was joined onstage by Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Florence Welch and Yolanda Adams.
Charity work
Martina McBride works with a variety of charities. She is currently the spokeswoman for the "National Domestic Violence Hotline" as well as for the "
National Network to End Domestic Violence" and national spokeswoman for the
Tulsa Domestic Violence and Intervention Services. Every year since 1995, she has hosted
Middle Tennessee's
YWCA, "Celebrity Auction", and it has raised nearly $400,000 so far. In 2004, she worked with "
Kids Wish Network" to fulfill the wish of a young girl dying from
Muscular Dystrophy. McBride was awarded the "Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award" in 2003.
McBride explained that educating girls and women on domestic violence is something she works on at home with her own daughters, stating that:
}}
McBride has also teamed up with, "Loveisrespect, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline," working with them on a new program called, "My Time to Shine."
McBride appeared on the Stand up 2 Cancer telethon in September 2010. alongside Leona lewis, Aaron Neville, and Stevie Wonder, she performed Unchained Melody. Also in 2010 she hosted the YWCA again, for the 16th year raising over 50,000 dollars this year, it totals over 500,000 dollars raised so far.
Personal life
McBride has been married to sound engineer John McBride, since May 15, 1988. The couple have three daughters: Delaney Katharine (b. 22 December 1994), Emma Justine (b. 29 March 1998), and Ava Rose Kathleen (b. 20 June 2005).
Discography
Studio albums
1992: The Time Has Come
1993: The Way That I Am
1995: Wild Angels
1997: Evolution
1998: White Christmas
1999: Emotion
2003: Martina
2005: Timeless
2007: Waking Up Laughing
2009: Shine
2011: TBA
Compilations and other albums
2001: Greatest Hits
2008:
2008:
Tours
;Headlining
Joy of Christmas Tour (2002)
Timeless Tour (2006)
Waking Up Laughing Tour (2008–09)
;Co-headlining
Virginia Slims on the Legends Tour (1995) (with Regina Belle, Gladys Knight and Barbara Mandrell)
Lilith Fair (1998–99) (with Sarah McLaughlin, et al.)
Girls Night Out Tour (2001) (with Sara Evans, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Jamie O'Neal and Reba McEntire)
"Shine All Night Tour" (2009–10) (with Trace Adkins)
;Supporting act
Garth Brooks (1992–94)
Brooks & Dunn (1994)
Tim McGraw (1997)
Awards
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
Country Music superstar Martina McBride has accepted over 15 major music awards including matching Reba McEntire's record for most wins for the CMA's Female Vocalist in 2004. She also has accepted the Flameworthy's (or now called CMT Video Awards) Female Video award twice, sharing the record for most wins with Carrie Underwood & Taylor Swift. She has been nominated for over 10 Grammy Awards, but never won. McBride is also known as winning the AMA's, ACM's, & CMA's, Female Vocalist of The Year, two of them being multiple times.
|-
! Year
! Award
! Category
! Result
|-
| 1993
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| New Female Vocalist of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 1994
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Music Video of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 1994
| Country Music Association Awards
| Horizon
| Nominated
|-
| 1994
| Country Music Association Awards
| Music Video of the Year for "Independence Day"
|
Won
|-
| 1995
| Grammy Awards
| Best Country/Western Vocal Performance
| Nominated
|-
| 1996
| TNN/Music City News
| Music Video of the Year for "Independence Day"
|
Won
|-
| 1996
| Grammy Awards
| Best Country/Western Vocal Performance
| Nominated
|-
| 1996
| Country Music Association
| Album of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 1996
| Country Music Association
| Female Vocalist of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 1997
| Academy of Country Music
| Music Video of The Year "A Broken Wing"
| Nominated
|-
| 1997
| Academy of Country Music
| Top Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 1998
| Country Music Association
| Female Vocalist of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 1998
| Country Music Association
| Single of The Year "A Broken Wing"
| Nominated
|-
| 1998
| Academy of Country Music
| Single Record of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 1998
| Academy of Country Music
| Top Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 1999
| American Music Awards
| Favorite Female Country Artist
| Nominated
|-
| 1999
| Country Music Association Awards
| Female Vocalist of the Year
|
Won
|-
| 1999
| Academy of Country Music
| Top Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 2000
| American Music Awards
| Favorite Country Female Artist
| Nominated
|-
| 2000
| Grammy Awards
| Best Female Country Vocal Performance
| Nominated
|-
| 2000
| Academy of Country Music
| Top Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 2000
| Country Music Association
| Female Vocalist of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 2001
| Flameworthy Awards
| Video Dierector "Blessed"
| Nominated
|-
| 2001
| Flameworthy Awards
| Laugh Out Loud Video "When God Fearin Women"
| Nominated
|-
| 2001
| Flameworthy Awards
| Fashion Plate Video "Blessed"
| Nominated
|-
| 2001
| Flameworthy Awards
| Female Video of the Year for "Blessed"
|
Won
|-
| 2001
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Top Female Vocalist
|
Won
|-
| 2001
| Country Music Association
| Female Vocalist of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 2002
| Flameworthy Awards
| Concept Video "Concrete Angel"
| Nominated
|-
| 2002
| Country Music Association
| Single of The Year "Blessed"
| Nominated
|-
| 2002
| Billboard Music Awards
| Country Female Artist of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 2002
| Flameworthy Awards
| Video of The Year "Concrete Angel"
| Nominated
|-
| 2002
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Top Female Vocalist
|
Won
|-
| 2002
| Country Music Association Awards
| Female Vocalist of the Year
|
Won
|-
| 2002
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Top Female Vocalist
|
Won
|-
| 2003
| Grammy Awards
| Best Female Country Vocal Performance
| Nominated
|-
| 2003
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Album of The Year "Martina"
| Nominated
|-
| 2003
| Academy of Country Awards
| Humanitarian of The Year
|
Won
|-
| 2003
| Flameworthy Awards
| Female Video of the Year "Concrete Angel"
|
Won
|-
| 2003
| Country Music Association Awards
| Female Vocalist of the Year
|
Won
|-
| 2003
| American Music Awards
| Favorite Country Female Artist
|
Won
|-
| 2004
| Country Music Association Awards
| Female Vocalist of the Year
|
Won
|-
| 2004
| Grammy Awards
| Best Short Form Music Video "Concrete Angel"
| Nominated
|-
| 2004
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Top Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 2004
| Grammy Awards
| Best Female Country Vocal Performance
| Nominated
|-
| 2004
| Flameworthy Awards
| Most Inspiring Video "Gods Will"
| Nominated
|-
| 2004
| Flameworthy Awards
| Female Video "How Far"
| Nominated
|-
| 2004
| Billboard Music Awards
| Female Country Artist of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 2004
| American Music Awards
| Favorite Country Female Artist
| Nominated
|-
| 2004
| American Music Awards
| Favorite Country Album
| Nominated
|-
| 2005
| CMT Video Awards
| Most Inspiring Video "Gods Will
| Nominated
|-
| 2005
| CMT Video Awards
| Female Video "Gods Will"
| Nominated
|-
| 2005
| Grammy Awards
| Best Female Country Vocal Performance
| Nominated
|-
| 2005
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Top Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 2005
| American Music Awards
| Favorite Country Female Artist
| Nominated
|-
| 2006
| Grammy Awards
| Best Short Form Music Video "Gods Will"
| Nominated
|-
| 2006
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Top Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 2007
| American Music Awards
| Favorite Country Female Artist
| Nominated
|-
| 2007
| Grammy Awards
| Best Female Country Vocal Performance
| Nominated
|-
| 2007
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Top Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 2007
| Country Music Association
| Female Vocalist of The Year
| Nomnated
|-
| 2007
| Country Music Association
| Music Video of Th Year "Anyway"
| Nominated
|-
| 2007
| Country Music Associatin
| Single of The Yeat "Anyway"
| Nominated
|-
| 2007
| Country Music Association
| Song of The Year "Anyway"
| Nominated
|-
| 2007
| BMI
| Song of The Year "Anyway"
| Nominated
|-
| 2007
| BMI
| Most Played Song of The Year "Anyway"
|
Won
|-
| 2007
| Billboard Music Awards
| Top Country Grossing Tour of The Year
|
Won
|-
| 2007
| ASCAP
| Female Song of The Year "Anyway"
|
Won
|-
| 2007
| ASCAP
| Song of The Year "Anyway"
|
Won
|-
| 2008
| CMT Video Awards
| Female Video "Anyway"
| Nominated
|-
| 2008
| Academy of Country Music
| Top Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 2008
| Country Music Association
| Female Vocalist of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 2009
| Grammy Awards
| Best Female Country Vocal Performance
| Nominated
|-
| 2009
| Country Music Association
| Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 2009
| CMT Video Awards
| Female Video "Ride"
| Nominated
|-
| 2010
| Grammy Awards
| Best Female Country Vocal Performance
| Nominated
|-
| 2010
| Teen Choice Awards
| Female Country Artist
| Nominated
|-
| 2010
| CMT Video Awards
| Female Video "I Just Call You Mine"
| Nominated
|-
| 2010
| American Country Awards
| Single by A Female Artist "Wrong Baby Wrong"
| Nominated
|-
| 2010
| American Country Awards
| Touring Artist of The Year
| Nominated
|-
| 2010
| Country Music Association
| Female Vocalist
| Nominated
|-
| 2011
| Academy of Country Music Awards
| Honorary Award
|
Won
|}
References
External links
Official Website
Category:1966 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Sharon, Kansas
Category:1990s singers
Category:2000s singers
Category:2010s singers
Category:American country singers
Category:American female singers
Category:Grand Ole Opry members
Category:Musicians from Kansas
Category:RCA Records artists
Category:Republic Records artists