Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood Deserve Recognition for Navigating Male-Dominated Country Music Era, Says Lambert

Miranda Lambert feels that she and fellow country artist Carrie Underwood deserve acknowledgment for navigating a period when male artists dominated the country music scene. Lambert stated in a recent interview that the early 2000s demanded female artists "dress sexy, be sexy, be a pretty girl," a persona she felt did not align with her "gun-totin' redneck" image.

Lambert reflected on the industry's landscape around the early 2000s, noting it was a time when few women achieved prominence. "Carrie Underwood and I, made it through pretty much a solid at least 7 years of only guy artists coming out of country music," Lambert recalled. She described this era as "off kilter a little bit" and suggested that she and Underwood "should get a ribbon for surviving that."

The singer observed that the industry has since become more balanced, attributing this shift partly to changes in how music is consumed. "I feel like, it is really balanced. I really do, and I think a lot of that has to do with the way music is consumed and there's finally room for every damn body," she said.

Lambert also mentioned that she and Underwood recently attended each other's Las Vegas residencies, a bonding experience that highlighted how infrequently their paths crossed professionally during their early careers due to the limited number of female artists.

"You know why? There were only two girls for so long. We weren't playing the same shows ever," Lambert explained.

She expressed gratitude for the current state of country music, where she believes diverse voices and messages can be heard. "It's gotten so much better, and I'm so thankful that, like, that there's, you know, room for a crowd now. Everybody has something different. I feel like all the voices can be heard, all the messages can be heard. You don't have to love them all, but at least there's a way to hear them."