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Martina McBride
Contemporary country singer Martina McBride rose to stardom in the late '90s, starting out with a more traditionalist approach and later moving into more pop-friendly territory. She was born Martina Mariea Schiff in 1966 in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, and discovered country music through her father, who led a local band called the Schifters. By her teen years, she was singing and playing keyboards with the Schifters, and after high school she gigged around Kansas with several different bands. She married soundman John McBride, and in 1990 the couple moved to Nashville, where John worked for artists like Charlie Daniels and Ricky Van Shelton. Martina, meanwhile, worked as a demo singer and enlisted her husband to produce her demo tape, which got her signed to RCA in 1991. Around the same time, John was hired as Garth Brooks' production manager, which helped land Martina an opening slot on tour with Brooks. Her debut album, The Time Has Come, was released in 1992, offering a set of songs indebted to traditional honky tonk and progressive-minded country-folk. The pop-inflected 1993 follow-up, The Way That I Am, was her commercial breakthrough, with the lead single "My Baby Loves Me" zooming up the country charts to the number two position. The affecting story-song "Independence Day" became something of a signature number, and another single, "Life #9," also reached the Top Ten. McBride's 1995 follow-up, Wild Angels, gave her a second Top Five hit in "Safe in the Arms of Love," and its title track became her first-ever number one single. Released in 1997, Evolution became her first Top Ten country album, and the Jim Brickman duet "Valentine" not only went Top Ten, but crossed over to become her first big hit on the adult contemporary charts. Evolution went on to spawn two number two hits ("Happy Girl" and "Whatever You Say") and two number one hits ("A Broken Wing" and "Wrong Again"), and sold over two million copies, launching McBride into the top rank of country stardom. She issued a Christmas album in late 1998 and returned with a proper follow-up, Emotion, in 1999. Its lead single, "I Love You," hit number one on the country charts and also crossed over to adult contemporary radio, and the follow-ups "Love's the Only House," "There You Are," and "It's My Time" were all successful as well (the first two also reached the Top Ten). The Greatest Hits compilation released in 2001 was the first McBride album to top the country charts, and sold well enough to make the pop Top Five as well. It contained four new tracks, all of which were eventually released as singles; "Blessed" hit number one, and "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues" and "Where Would You Be" both reached the Top Ten. The self-titled Martina from 2003 celebrated womanhood, while 2005's Timeless was a collection of country classics; both became Top Ten album hits, the latter reaching number three. Waking Up Laughing appeared in 2007 from RCA Records. The CD/DVD set Live in Concert was issued in 2008, followed by Shine in 2009 from RCA. McBride next moved to the Republic Nashville label, which released her 11th studio album, the aptly named Eleven, in 2011. Returning to the studio at the end of 2013, McBride started recording her 12th album, 2014's Everlasting. Produced by Don Was, Everlasting was a departure that found McBride singing mainly soul and R&B covers, including Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and the Supremes' "Come See About Me," and featured a duet with Kelly Clarkson on Etta James' "In the Basement." The album appeared on Kobalt Records in April 2014.

Songs

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1
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Valentine
Jim Brickman
2
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Independence Day
Martina McBride
3
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A Broken Wing
Martina McBride
4
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Concrete Angel
Martina McBride
5
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This One's for the Girls
Martina McBride

Albums

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Everlasting

2014
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Timeless

2005
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Wild Angels

1995
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Eleven

2011
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Martina

2003
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The Way That I Am

1993
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Shine

2009
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Emotion

1999
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Waking Up Laughing

2007
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Evolution

1997

Singles & EPs

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The Women I Am

Single • 2025
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Wild Night

Single • 2014
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Girls Like Me (From Songland)

Single • 2020
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If You Don't Know Me By Now

Single • 2014
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Little Bit of Rain

Single • 2014
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Let It Be Me

Single • 2005
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Suspicious Minds

Single • 2014
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When I Stop Dreaming (Live)

Single • 2016

Videos

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Where Would You Be (CMT Flameworthy Awards 2002)

Martina McBride • 3.1M views

Featured on

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Traditional Country Christmas

Playlist • YouTube Music
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'90s Country

Playlist • YouTube Music
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Ladies Writing Country

Playlist • YouTube Music
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Country Murder Ballads

Playlist • YouTube Music
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Swingin' Christmas

Playlist • YouTube Music
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Patriotic Country

Playlist • YouTube Music
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Country Christmas

Playlist • YouTube Music
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Songs About Mama

Playlist • YouTube Music
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Never-Ending Christmas

Playlist • YouTube Music
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Queens of Country

Playlist • YouTube Music

Artist-made playlists

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Martina McBride - It's The Holiday Season (Official Audio)

Playlist • Martina McBride • 10K views
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Martina McBride - Girls Like Me

Playlist • Martina McBride • 1.3K views

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