10 Things You Didn’t Know About Miranda Lambert
By: Billy Dukes
Taste of Country
10. The Lamberts were once homeless.
The private investigation business went dry for some time, and the Lambert family was forced to take shelter in a farmhouse on her uncle’s property. It wasn’t much, but they slowly built it up room by room until it became ‘The House That Built Me.’ “So we literally lived off our land for about two years,” Miranda Lambert told Redbook. “We had hogs and rabbits. We had a garden. Mom would be like, ‘Y’all go pick out what you want tonight.’ The first big thing I ever did [after my success] was to buy a big farm in Oklahoma, and I have a garden — all the same stuff.”
9. She was hoping she wouldn’t win ‘Nashville Star.’
Miranda Lambert finished third behind Buddy Jewell and John Arthur Martinez on the first season of the reality show in 2003. She later said she was glad she didn’t win. “The winner had to go in right after the contest and make a record in a couple of weeks, and I wasn’t ready.” The then-19-year-old Lambert had just begun playing guitar and carving out a songwriting style. She signed a record deal later that year, but didn’t release ‘Kerosene’ until 2005.
8. She’s a tomboy, but she loves diamonds.
Just because Miranda Lambert likes to hunt and fish and tend to her farm animals doesn’t mean she wasn’t expecting a big ol’ rock on her left hand. Blake Shelton says it didn’t take him long to pick out the enormous engagement ring. The Boot reports that Lambert also got an attention-grabbing wedding band. It’s a five-carat white diamond “Eternity” ring by Johnathon Arndt.
7. Her parents were part of a lawsuit against President Clinton.
It’s well-known that Miranda Lambert’s parents were private investigators who frequently brought battered women home to protect them from abusive husbands. According to People, the pair’s business turned to politics in 1994 when they worked closely with former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones and her legal team as she accused President Clinton of sexual harassment. Clinton eventually settled out of court.
6. You can drink ‘Kerosene.’
Red 55 Winery is a brand of Miranda Lambert wines. “It’s named after my truck, a red ’55 Chevy that I’ll keep forever,” Lambert told Redbook. “The winery’s a really cool little place.” The seven bottles she has for sale at her official website range from $17-20, and include flavors named after songs. There’s the ‘White Liar,’ the ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ and ‘Kerosene’ – a “dry, straw-colored wine is light, yet pleasingly tart with softening hints of pear and ripe apple. It is similar to Pinot Grigio.”
5. She enjoys barrel racing.
Years ago, Miranda Lambert stated that she’d love to take up the sport of barrel racing. In an interview with Country Music Rocks, the singer revealed that she spends some of her free time on a horse. The event is found at rodeos nationwide. The competitors, most often women, race a horse around barrels set up in a clover leaf design. With a new husband and a new musical side project in Pistol Annies, it’s hard to believe she has any time for horseback riding these days.
4. She was a lousy student.
Miranda Lambert told Seventeen magazine that she barely got through high school. Her grades were bad, but her fashion sense was worse. “Bad, real bad. I didn’t get style until I got on ‘Nashville Star’. I didn’t wear any makeup. I would wear wind pants and T-shirts to school. Hideous,” she admits. She adds that she wasn’t a bad girl — in fact, she sang with a church group that gathered at her house frequently. Lambert says she made up for it later, however.
3. Her idols are Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn and… Mariah Carey?
Miranda Lambert’s iPod is diverse. In addition to her country faves, there are rock bands like Jet and Audioslave — and Mariah Carey was an early influence. “When I was growing up, I really used to sit and watch VHS tapes of Mariah Carey’s live shows. I thought she was a great entertainer, so I guess she was a pretty big inspiration. I think I find new idols every day — someone that says something really inspiring, is successful, has character,” she told Seventeen. We’ll credit Carey for rounding out the country singer’s tender side.
2. She keeps a box cutter onstage at all times.
It’s not what you think. Miranda Lambert isn’t looking to give any rowdy concertgoers a shiv. The blade is for “the enemy.” “When I’m signing a ballad onstage and a beach ball comes flying at my head, it makes me crazy,” she told People, “so I keep a box cutter on my drum riser for such occasions.”
1. The Sheltons’ first dance was to Neal McCoy’s ‘No Doubt About It.’
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert were clear in their instructions to the hired entertainment at their wedding. They didn’t want a first dance or a father-daughter dance song. Neal McCoy says he didn’t listen. In an interview with Taste of Country, McCoy admits he pulled an audible and had his band begin this love song instead. “Everybody just separated and they danced their first dance. And I saw them singing to each other… so I walked offstage and put the mic to them, and they sang a little bit of it to each other so it was really a special moment for me.”