Miranda Lambert Stuns At The ACM Awards
No matter what the past couple of years have brought to Miranda Lambert’s personal life, there’s no denying that this Nashville Star third-place winner is one of the powerhouses of country music. At the 52nd ACM Awards held on April 2, 2017, Miranda nailed the highlight award of the night, taking home the coveted ACM Album of the Year Award.
In her thank you speech, Miranda expressed her thanks to her father and her producers, saying, “I just want to say thank you for letting me use my heartbreak and sharing it with me and thanks to my daddy, Rick Lambert, who’s here tonight for this beautiful title and these amazing people. Eric, Glenn, and Frank.”
That trio, Eric Masse, Glenn Worf, and Frank Liddell, were the producers on her award winning album, The Weight of These Wings. The album deals with how Lambert has felt over her much publicized breakup with her ex-husband Blake Shelton as well as her new relationship with Anderson East.
Miranda also won over the audience with a bare bones acoustic version of her song, “Tin Man,” receiving a standing ovation.
The Weight of These Wings takes its inspiration from her marriage and divorce from fellow country singer, Blake Shelton.
Miranda and Blake
The duo originally met in 2006 at the CMT’s 100 Greatest Duets Concert. Blake popped the big question to Miranda four years later. In a traditional southern way, he asked her father for permission to ask Miranda beforehand, receiving Rick’s blessing. A since-deleted tweet on June 10, 2010, summed it up for Blake as he jokingly realized what he had done.
“Just realized I asked Miranda Lambert to marry me… Holysh*t that took balls!!! Glad I’ve been drunk for 5 weeks….”
The pair married at the Don Strange Ranch in Boerne, Texas in a quaint ceremony that had all the trappings of a traditional Southern wedding. Lambert wore her mother’s wedding dress, and the pair said their vows in front of over 500 family and friends. The star-studded gala included guests such as Dierks Bentley, Martina McBride, Reba, McEntire, and Kelly Clarkson.
The pair seemed inseparable, often tweeting hilarious and loving messages to each other.
“@mirandalambert: I like this version of you. It doesn't talk shit! #cardboardhusband #love pic.twitter.com/p5EzcIS0ZR” Where is your hand?!
— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) March 18, 2015
I got a song crush! Love yall @littlebigtown #girlcrush #PlayGirlCrush @blakeshelton pic.twitter.com/jgM2N0EWNc
— Miranda Lambert (@mirandalambert) March 29, 2015
However, in 2015, cracks began to show in their relationship. In June of 2015, in a move that was a far cry from their usual Twitter antics, the pair mentioned the CMT Awards without mentioning each other. The two continued to cross paths without mentioning one another; first at Calgary Stampede, where Miranda was forced to cancel her performance due to vocal cord inflammation, and then again at the Frontier Days festival in Cheyenne.
At the Cheyenne concert, Miranda was visibly upset as she sang “The House That Built Me.” The song was written for Blake as a testament of their love and continues to be a fan favorite.
Finally, on July 20, 2015, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton jointly announced their separation and divorce.
“This is not the future we envisioned, and it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter.”
The day after, both of them changed all of their social media photographs to reflect the divorce.
Miranda Lambert Moves On
After the divorce, Miranda said that she was thrown into a state of disarray and threw herself into writing and creating a new album. She released the first single from The Weight of These Wings, titled “Vice.” It was released on July 18, 2016, and shows an honest look into Miranda’s vulnerability.
“Every record I’ve ever made has been a reflection of where I am right then in my life, however old I am. And I’ve never held back at all. But this time with what I happened to be going through in my life, being honest was never really a choice. Everybody knew anyway. So I just said, I’m gonna journal it, and — good days and bad days — use it for my art”
The vulnerability she showed obviously won over the hearts of fans and the Academy. In addition to the Best Album award, The Weight of These Wings also produced nods for Best Country Solo Performance, Best Video, and Best Country Song for “Vice.” The album is also ranked on multiple lists and charts as one of the best country albums of 2016. Miranda Lambert also took home the trophy for Female Vocalist of the Year.
[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
