Miranda Lambert didn’t want a breakup album, she said recently to Billboard. The 33-year-old country singer recalled heading to the studio to write Vice with songwriter Shane McAnally on the day the news of her divorce made headlines in July 2015.
“I walked in with guns blazing,” Lambert shared. “I just knew one thing: I didn’t want a breakup record. I was like, ‘Let’s feel it all.’ I was ready to have the days where I can’t even stand up and the days where I’m celebrating.”
“She’s not afraid to bare her soul.” said Brandy Clark, who co-wrote Lambert’s 2011 hit, “Mama’s Broken Heart. She could have written a whole man-hating record, but she went to a vulnerable, honest place. To be vulnerable you must be strong, and that’s what she is.”
In November, her album The Weight of These Wings was released without TV appearances and magazine interviews.
The country star admits that it was often difficult to be strong. “I’m more known for my fiery personality and my confidence, but that’s not me all the time,” she revealed. “I won’t look at things ever again in the same light, because different things in your life bring you to a deeper level with yourself. I won’t take pain for granted anymore.”
When not touring, the Grammy winner hangs out with her beau Anderson East and likes to relax on the 400-acre property she recently bought outside of downtown Nashville.
Recently, women in country have struggled for traction on the country charts. Just this July, Lambert tweeted, “Where are the damn girls?” after not seeing a single woman in the top eight of Billboard’s Country Streaming Songs chart.
“It sucks. It makes me mad,” the singer admitted. “You can print out any top chart, and you’ll see maybe a couple females, or not even one. I’m thankful for my spot headlining festivals. I’ve worked for it — but I shouldn’t be on a whole show with no girls.”
The Texas native also explained why she opted not to get political in her music.
“I don’t want to go to a show and hear somebody preach about their opinions,” she shared. “It’s so divided [in politics], you can’t win anyway — and what are you winning? For someone to agree with you, and now you’ve spoken your piece and pissed off many other people, just for one person to go, ‘She’s right’? It doesn’t do any good.”
“I’m a country singer. We talk about tears in our beers,” she added.
