Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place on the television program Nashville Star, a singing competition which aired on the USA Network. Outside her solo career, she is a member of the Pistol Annies formed in 2011 alongside Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley. Lambert has been honored by the Grammy Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association Awards. Lambert has been honored with more Academy of Country Music Awards than any artist in history.

Lambert’s second and major-label debut album Kerosene (2005) was certified Platinum in the United States and produced the singles “Me and Charlie Talking”, “Bring Me Down”, “Kerosene” and “New Strings”. All four singles reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. Her second album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, was released in early 2007. Three of its singles (“Famous in a Small Town”, “Gunpowder & Lead” and “More Like Her”) peaked within the top 20 on the country songs chart, with “Gunpowder & Lead” becoming her first top 10 entry in July 2008. Her third album, Revolution, was released in September 2009. Two of its songs – “The House That Built Me” and “Heart Like Mine” – topped the Hot Country Songs chart.

2011’s Four the Record included the singles “Baggage Claim”, “Over You”, “Fastest Girl in Town”, “Mama’s Broken Heart” and “All Kinds of Kinds”. Lambert released her fifth album, Platinum, in 2014. The record won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album, and the album’s lead single “Automatic” reached the top five on the Country charts. Her sixth studio album, The Weight of These Wings, was released on November 18, 2016, and subsequently certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Her seventh studio album, Wildcard, was released on November 1, 2019, and went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Country Album in early 2021. Three singles from the album (“It All Comes out in the Wash”, “Bluebird”, “Settling Down”) reached the top 20 of the country music charts, and the album’s second official single “Bluebird” became Lambert’s first song to top the Billboard Country Airplay Chart as a solo artist since 2012.

She later collaborated with singer-songwriters Jon Randall and Jack Ingram for the album The Marfa Tapes, departing from her usual sound and opting for an acoustic, stripped-back feel. It was released on May 7, 2021 to acclaim from critics. Lambert released her eighth solo album Palomino on April 29, 2022. The same year she was listed on 100 Most Influential People by Time.

Miranda Leigh Lambert was born November 10, 1983, to Rick and Bev (née Hughes) Lambert in Longview, Texas, and was raised in Lindale, Texas. She was named after her great-grandmother, Lucy Miranda. She has one younger brother.

Her parents met while Bev was attending camp at Southern Methodist University and Rick was an on-campus undercover narcotics officer, and they got together a few years later. Rick is a former Dallas police officer who played in a country-rock group called Contraband in the 1970s. Rick and Bev later became private detectives and even worked on the high-profile case of the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. After the oil crisis dampened the economy in Texas, her family lost everything.

After the downturn, things got better and her parents began a faith-based ministry and offered their home as a shelter for the victims of domestic violence and their children. Miranda has said that this experience fueled her music and that her song “Gunpowder & Lead” is a reflection of that.

While still in high school, Lambert made her professional singing debut with “The Texas Pride Band”. She also fronted the house band at the Reo Palm Isle in Longview, Texas, a long-running venue that had presented legends such as Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson, and the place where Brooks & Dunn started out as the house band.

At 16, Lambert appeared on the Johnnie High Country Music Revue in Arlington, Texas, the same talent show that had helped launch the career of LeAnn Rimes. Lambert then acquired a recording session in Nashville, Tennessee, but left the studio after she became frustrated with the “pop” type of music presented to her. She went back to Texas in 2000 and asked her father to teach her how to play guitar, so she could write her own songs. In 2001, she released her self-titled debut album which consisted of 10 tracks.

In 2002, Dusty Meador hired Lambert to perform at Tye Phelps’ country music restaurant and venue Love and War in Texas. Lambert continued to perform around the Texas Music Scene opening for Cooder Graw, Kevin Fowler, and Jack Ingram. In 2003, she auditioned for the talent competition Nashville Star, where she earned a third-place finish behind Buddy Jewell and John Arthur Martinez. During her 9-week stay on Nashville Star, Lambert caught the attention of the show’s judge and Sony Music executive, Tracy Gershon, who later convinced the label to sign her.

On September 15, 2003, she signed with Epic Records. Her debut single, “Me and Charlie Talking”, co-written by her father and Heather Little, was released in summer of 2004 as the lead single to her debut album, titled Kerosene. The album comprised 12 songs, 11 of which she wrote or co-wrote. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts, and eventually gained a Platinum certification by the RIAA for shipments of over one million copies, selling more than 930,000 copies up to July 2008. Overall, the album produced four Top 40 singles on the Billboard country charts, including the title track which was a Top 20 hit. Lambert also toured with Keith Urban and George Strait in early 2006. In 2007, she toured with Dierks Bentley and Toby Keith.