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Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s.^{[citation needed]} Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio,^{[citation needed]} country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to adult contemporary.^{[citation needed]}

History[link]

Beginnings: Nashville sound[link]

The joining of country and pop began in the 1950s when studio executives Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley wanted to create a new kind of music for the young adult crowd after “rockabilly stole away much of country music's youth audience”.^[1] According to Bill Ivey, this innovative genre originated in Nashville, Tennessee and thus became known as Nashville Sound. He believes that the “Nashville Sound often produced records that sounded more pop than country” after the removal of the fiddle and banjo. Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, and Eddy Arnold were among the most popular artists during this time.^[2] This was intended to have country singers gain more success in pop music and sell more records.^{[citation needed]} The first male artists to come out of this new genre were Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold, who both grew to have widespread acceptance in both country and pop music.^{[citation needed]} Both Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold had major influence on their RCA labelmate Elvis Presley, apparent not only in secular songs, but even more so in country gospel songs. The first female country singer to emerge from this new genre was Patsy Cline in the early 60s.^{[citation needed]} She created a whole new breed of female country artists,^{[citation needed]} such as Lynn Anderson, Crystal Gayle and Shania Twain, who gained prominence in later years. Even though Cline also gained widespread acceptance from country and pop audiences alike, the Nashville Sound did not maintain its popularity for long,^{[citation needed]} receiving competition first from the Bakersfield Sound and later the outlaw movement.^{[citation needed]}

Country pop in the late 70s and 80s[link]

Lynn Anderson - live in concert

Country pop found its first widespread acceptance during the 1970s.^{[citation needed]} It started with pop music singers, like Glen Campbell, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John and Anne Murray, began having hits on the country charts. Songs like Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy" were among one of the biggest crossover hits in country music history.^{[citation needed]} These pop-oriented singers thought that they could gain higher record sales and a larger audience if they crossed over into the country world.^{[citation needed]} Among one of the most unappreciated artists who did this was Olivia Newton-John in 1974, who emerged from Australia in the mid-70s, hoping to make it big in the United States. When her single "Let Me Be There" became a big pop-country crossover hit in 1974, it became quite controversial,^{[citation needed]} especially after Newton-John won a Grammy award for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" for the song, and also won the CMA's most coveted award for females, "Female Vocalist of the Year" (beating out established Nashville artists Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Tanya Tucker, as well as Canadian transplant Anne Murray).

A group of artists, troubled by this trend, formed the Association of Country Entertainers in 1974.^{[citation needed]} The debate raged into 1975, and reached its apex at that year's Country Music Association Awards when reigning Entertainer of the Year Charlie Rich (who himself had a series of crossover hits) presented the award to his successor, John Denver. As he read Denver's name, Rich set fire to the envelope with a cigarette lighter. The action was taken in some quarters as a protest against the increasing pop style in country music (some, including Rich himself, cited medication instead as reason for his behavior). However, the ACE would not last all that long.^{[citation needed]}

In 1977 Kenny Rogers burst onto the country charts with "Lucille" and would go on to become the most successful of the country pop performers,^{[citation needed]} topping charts all over the world and taking the genre to the zenith internationally.^{[citation needed]} After "Lucille", Rogers had a string of songs that did well on both the country and pop charts around the world, including "Daytime Friends", "The Gambler" and "Coward of the County", all of which were produced by Larry Butler. Rogers would go on to push the boundaries of pop influence in country music,^{[citation needed]} having records produced by the likes of The Bee Gees, Lionel Richie, David Foster and George Martin, all of which did well in both the pop and country markets.

Dolly Parton, who had already achieved considerable success as a mainstream country artist, wanted to expand her audience and go in new directions, so she decided to make a change in 1977,^{[citation needed]} crossing over into the pop music world with No. 1 country and No. 3 pop hit that year called "Here You Come Again". She followed it up with a number of additional crossover pop hits, including "Two Doors Down" and "Heartbreaker" (both 1978), "Baby I'm Burning" (1979), "Starting Over Again" (1980), and "9 to 5", which topped both the country and pop singles charts in early 1981. (Ironically, despite her being one of the most successful practitioners of country pop crossover during the late 1970s and 1980s, Parton, because of her upbringing and mountain roots, is regarded by most critics as one of country's most authentic performers.)^{[citation needed]})

Country pop reached an early peak immediately following the movie Urban Cowboy in the early 1980s.^{[citation needed]} Some older artists from the 1960s and 1970s converted their sound to country pop or 'countrypolitan',^{[citation needed]} such as Parton, Willie Nelson and Dottie West. Dottie West, who had been around since the '60s, completely changed her image into a more sexy and risky profile in the early '80s,^{[citation needed]} following a series of hit duets with Kenny Rogers. (Rogers also had an enormous duet hit with Parton, the Bee-Gees-penned "Islands in the Stream", which topped the country and pop singles charts in late 1983.) After the success with Rogers, West wanted to remain on top of her game, so in order to keep up with current country music, she continued to record more pop-sounding material.^{[citation needed]} Because of this, Dottie West achieved her biggest success as a country singer during this time, acquiring her first No. 1 hit as a solo artist thanks to her music in 1980 titled "A Lesson in Leaving".

Alabama, Eddie Rabbitt and Ronnie Milsap also began experiencing crossover success during the early 1980s.^{[citation needed]} Four of Alabama's most successful songs of the early 1980s — "Feels So Right", "Love in the First Degree", Take Me Down" and "The Closer You Get" — all reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, while four of Ronnie Milsap's No. 1 songs between 1980-1982 reached the Hot 100's Top 20, the most successful of which was the No. 5 hit "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me". Rabbitt had three Top 5 pop songs in 1980-1981, and "I Love a Rainy Night" reached No. 1 on both the Hot 100 and Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

By the mid-80s, however, fans of more traditional country music were growing restless.^{[citation needed]} For the next several years, country radio was dominated by neotraditional artists,^{[citation needed]} although some country pop artists continued to have hits, most notably Alabama, Parton, Rabbitt and Milsap.^{[citation needed]}

1990s revival[link]

Country pop enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s, primarily because of the beginning proliferation of country music to the FM radio dial, which in turn was aided by the increase of FCC licenses for suburban and rural FM stations in the late 1980s and an increase in talk radio on the AM dial. Garth Brooks rose to fame during the 1990s with a string of several extremely successful albums and songs. Shania Twain would rival this success with her three albums The Woman in Me, Come On Over and Up!. In the last few years, country singer LeAnn Rimes has proved her ability to sing country pop songs such as the record-setting "How Do I Live", which spent 69 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, the second longest single in the record history. This achievement came in spite of the fact that a nearly identical version of the same song by Trisha Yearwood was released at the same time and was also a hit. Rimes also had a hit with the pop songs "Can't Fight the Moonlight" and "I Need You."

Incorporating elements of pop into country music became extremely popular by the late 90s thus producing many crossover hits and artists, especially on the adult contemporary charts. Country love songs also became more popular with songs like To Make You Feel My Love, Cowboy Take Me Away, "I Love You", "Breathe", "It's Your Love", "Just to See You Smile", "This Kiss", "You're Still the One", "From This Moment On", "You've Got a Way", Valentine, etc.

Martina McBride caused some controversy in 1993 with her hit song "Independence Day" which dealt with spousal abuse. She would also go on to release similar songs about abuse and other society injustices with songs like "A Broken Wing", "Love's the Only House", and "Concrete Angel".

While supporters of country pop contend the style has brought many new fans to the genre,^{[citation needed]} others, particularly older country music artists and fans that embrace the more traditional styles, have criticized country pop music.^{[citation needed]} Their main argument is that commercial country music, especially that which has been produced since 2005, already sounds too much like mainstream pop music even without an even more pop-sounding sub-genre. Kenny Rogers responded to both sides of the debate by stating "For country music, I'm not country enough. Everywhere else I'm too country".^{[citation needed]}

In the 1990s many country artists experienced huge crossover success. These artists include Brooks, Twain, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, The Dixie Chicks, Jo Dee Messina, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Lonestar, Sara Evans and Rimes.

2000s and 2010s[link]

The early 2000s also saw continued success of these artists. Lee Ann Womack scored a big hit with I Hope You Dance". The Dixie Chicks had continued success with a less mainstream country-pop sound when they released their album Home in 2002. However, by the mid-2000s there were fewer country acts having crossover success. Carrie Underwood became a crossover success in 2006 and 2007 though, with her hit single Before He Cheats. Taylor Swift has also had crossover success in the late 2000's.

In the 2010s, Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen and Lady Antebellum have achieved success recently, with Taylor and Antebellum winning nine Grammy Awards between the two (Swift's song "White Horse" - 2 awards, and album "Fearless" - 2 awards; Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" - 5 awards). Uncle Kracker also achieved success when his No. 3 peaking adult contemporary hit "Smile" also became a No. 6 country hit. Lady Antebellum scored another crossover hit in the summer of 2011 with the song "Just A Kiss", and also during this past summer The Band Perry song "If I Die Young" crossed over to pop radio. The disco/country/pop song song "Call Me Maybe" has hit #1 in several countries and #4 in the United States.

Swift is the youngest ever to win the Grammy for Album of the Year and the first country solo artist to win that award.

On October 25, 2010, Swift released her third album Speak Now and it sold more than 1 million copies the first week, she is the third female in history to sell more than 1 million copies in a week.

On February 12th, 2012, Swift won the Grammys for the "Best Country Song" and "Best Country Solo Performance" for her song "Mean"; and Lady Antebellum won the Grammy for "Best Country Album" for "Own the Night", bringing the total amount of Grammy wins between the two act to thirteen (Swift - 6 awards; Lady Antebellum - 7 awards).

Country pop artists/groups[link]

See also[link]

Country music portal

• "Murder on Music Row"
• "Long Time Gone"

Notes[link]

v t e Country music genres Alternative country Australian country Bakersfield sound Bluegrass Country folk Country pop Country rap Country rock Cowpunk Country soul Honky tonk Lubbock sound Nashville sound Neotraditional country Outlaw country Progressive country Red Dirt music Rockabilly Texas country music Western swing Country music portal

Martina McBride
Martina McBride performing in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Martina Mariea Schiff
Born	(1966-07-29) July 29, 1966 (age 45) Sharon, Kansas, United States
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee
Genres	Country, country pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1990–present
Labels	RCA Nashville, Republic Nashville
Associated acts	Jason Sellers, Blake Shelton, Patrick Monahan, Lionel Richie, Jim Brickman
Website	Official Website

Martina McBride (born July 29, 1966) 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.^[1]

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."^[2] 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 Gold certification, or higher. In the U.S. she has sold over 14 million albums. In addition, McBride 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[link]

McBride was born Martina Mariea Schiff in Sharon, Kansas, to Daryl and Jeanne (née Clark) Schiff. She has two brothers, Martin and Steve, who currently play in her concert band, and a sister, Gina.^[3]

McBride 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.^[4] Around the age of eight or nine, 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.^[4]

McBride began performing with a local rock band, The Penetrators, in Wichita instead.^[4] Then, in 1987, Schiff gathered a group of musicians called Lotus and started looking for rehearsal space; she began renting space from a studio engineer named John McBride. In 1988, the two married.^[4][5]

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.^[3] In 1990, impressed by Martina's enthusiastic spirit, Brooks offered her the position of his opening act provided she could obtain a recording contract.^[5] During this time, while her husband was working with country artists Charlie Daniels and Ricky Van Shelton, he also helped produce her demo tape, which helped her gain a recording contract with RCA Nashville Records in 1991.^[2]

Music career[link]

[edit] 1992–1995: The Time Has Come and The Way That I Am

McBride released her debut studio album through the RCA Records label in 1992, titled The Time Has Come. This album's title track made number 23 on the country music charts, but the next two singles both failed to make top 40.^[6] Unlike her later country pop-influenced albums, The Time Has Come featured honky tonk and country folk influences.^[2]

The Way That I Am was the title of McBride's second album. Its first two singles both brought her into the country top ten: "My Baby Loves Me" peaked at number two, and "Life #9" at number six. The third single, "Independence Day", did not reach the top 10 because many radio programmers objected to the song's subject of a mother fighting back against abuse by burning the family home to the ground.^[7] "Independence Day" won Video of the Year and Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.^[6][8] It also earned the song's composer, Gretchen Peters, a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. McBride performed the song at the 1995 Grammys ceremony. 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.^[6]

[edit] 1995–1999: Wild Angels and Evolution

Released in 1995, Wild Angels accounted for another top five hit in "Safe in the Arms of Love", and her first number-one hit in the album's title track.^[6] "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town", "Swingin' Doors" and "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" were less successful, reaching the lower regions of the top 40.

In early 1997, after "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" peaked, McBride released two duets. "Still Holding On", a duet with Clint Black which was the lead-off single to his album Nothin' but the Taillights,^[6] and "Valentine" with Jim Brickman which appeared on his album Picture This.^[9] 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".^[6] Towards the end of 1998, the album was certified double platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling two million units. In addition, she also won the Country Music Association Awards' "Female Vocalist of the Year" award in 1999 and also performed for President Bill Clinton during the same time.

Also in 1998, McBride released a Christmas album titled White Christmas. Included on it was a rendition of "O Holy Night", which first charted in 1997 and continued to re-enter the charts until 2001.^[6] She also sang a guest vocal on Jason Sellers' mid-1998 single "This Small Divide".

[edit] 1999–2003: Emotion and Greatest Hits

McBride's fifth studio album, Emotion, was released in 1999. Its lead single, "I Love You," reached number one on the Billboard country charts in 1999, and also crossed over to the Adult Contemporary chart. The song's follow-ups, "Love's the Only House" and "There You Are", both made top ten at country radio, and "It's My Time" peaked at number eleven.^[6]

In 2001, she released her first compilation, Greatest Hits. This album has been certified 3× Platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, and is her highest-selling album.^[10] 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.^[11] 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".^[6]

[edit] 2003–2005: Martina

In 2003, McBride released her sixth studio album, Martina, which celebrated womanhood.^[2] The first single, "This One's for the Girls," went to number three on the country charts and became her only number-one hit on the Adult Contemporary charts. It also included backing vocals from Faith Hill, Carolyn Dawn Johnson and McBride's daughters, Delaney and Emma.^[6] Follow-up single "In My Daughter's Eyes" was also a top five hit at both country and adult contemporary. "How Far" and "God's Will" from the same album both made top 20 at country radio, as did her guest appearance on Jimmy Buffett's single "Trip Around the Sun".

In 2004, McBride won the CMA's Female Vocalist award for the fourth time, following the wins in 2003, 2002 & 1999, which tied her for the most wins in that category with Reba McEntire.

[edit] 2005–2008: Timeless and Waking Up Laughing

After finding success in country pop-styled music, McBride released her next studio album in 2005, Timeless, which was an album consisting of country covers.^[12] 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.^[7] The lead single, a cover of Lynn Anderson's "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden," went to number 18 on the country charts, but the other two singles both failed to make top 40.

In 2006, McBride served as a guest coach on Canadian Idol. The remaining five finalists traveled to Nashville, where McBride worked with the competitors on the songs they had chosen by country artists such as Gordon Lightfoot and Patsy Cline. Among the other guest judges that year were Nelly Furtado and Cyndi Lauper.^[13] McBride later joined Canadian Idol on a tour in the Spring.^[14] In 2007, McBride also served as a guest coach on Fox Networks television series, American Idol.^[15]

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.^[12] The album's lead single, "Anyway," went to No. 5 on the Billboard Country Chart, becoming her first Top 10 hit since 2003. Its follow-up, "How I Feel," reached the Top 15. In Spring 2008, McBride released Martina McBride: Live In Concert, a CD/DVD set.^[12] It was taped in Moline, Illinois in September 2007.

In July 2007, The ABC Television Network announced a special program called Six Degrees of Martina McBride where individuals from around the country were challenged to find their way to Martina McBride on their own connections and research using a maximum of six methods. The "winner" of this challenge eventually located a direct connection to Martina through her husband John McBride who knew someone, who knew someone else.^[16] McBride recently recorded an electronically-produced duet with Elvis Presley, performing his song "Blue Christmas" as a duet with him on his latest compilation, The Elvis Presley Christmas Duets.^[17] A compilation collection entitled Playlist: The Very Best of Martina McBride was released on December 16, 2008 as part of Sony BMG Playlist series. The album features 11 previously released tracks and three unreleased tracks.

[edit] 2008–2010: 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 Stephen 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.^[18][19] 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 two 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.

[edit] 2010–present: Eleven

McBride exited RCA in November 2010 and signed with Republic Nashville.^[20] 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.^[21] An album track, "One Night" was released as a promotion for NASCAR with a music video in June 2011.

"I'm Gonna Love You Through It" was released as the album's second single on July 25, 2011. The song became a critical and commercial hit, peaking at number 4 and becoming her first top five hit since 2006's "Anyway." The album, titled Eleven, was released on October 11, 2011.

"Marry Me", a cover of the Train song which is cleverly re-worked as a duet between McBride and Train frontman Pat Monahan, was released as the third single off of Eleven.

RCA Records released McBride's final album for the label, Hits and More, in January 2012.

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.

On July 4, 2011, she sang at the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.

Charity work[link]

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.^[22] 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."^[24]

McBride appeared on the Stand Up 2 Cancer Telethon in September 2010, where she performed "Unchained Melody" with Leona Lewis, Aaron Neville, and Stevie Wonder. Also in 2010, she hosted the YWCA for the 16th consecutive year, raising over 50,000 dollars. It totals over 500,000 dollars raised so far.

Personal life[link]

McBride has been married to sound engineer John McBride, since May 15, 1988. The couple has three daughters: Delaney Katharine (born December 22, 1994), Emma Justine (b. March 29, 1998), and Ava Rose Kathleen (b. June 20, 2005).

Discography[link]

Tours[link]

Headlining

• Greatest Hits (2002–03)
• Joy of Christmas (2002)
• Timeless (2006)
• Waking Up Laughing (2008–09)

Co-headlining

• "Virginia Slims on the Legends" (1995) (with Regina Belle, Gladys Knight and Barbara Mandrell)
• Lilith Fair (1998–99) (with Sarah McLachlan, et al.)
• "Girls Night Out" (2001) (with Sara Evans, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Jamie O'Neal and Reba McEntire)
• "Shine All Night" (2009–10) (with Trace Adkins)
• "Eleven Tour" (2012) (with George Strait)

As supporting act

• Garth Brooks (1992–94)
• Brooks & Dunn (1994)
• Tim McGraw (1997)
• George Strait (2011–12)

Awards and nominations[link]

Country music artist Martina McBride has received over 15 major music awards including matching Reba McEntire's record for the most wins for the Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year with her fourth win in 2004. She holds the record in that category for most consecutive nominations. She also has accepted the Flameworthy's (now called CMT Video Awards) Female Video of the Year award twice, sharing the record for most wins with Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. She has been nominated for 14 Grammy Awards, but never won.

Note: In 1995, McBride was one of the various artists featured on the album Amazing Grace – A Country Salute to Gospel (singing "How Great Thou Art"), which won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album. This award went to the compilation album's producer, Bill Hearn, and not to the artists.

References[link]