Miranda Lambert Says She ‘Had to Sing With Someone With a Penis’ to Hit No. 1 Again
Miranda Lambert recently scored her latest No. 1 hit, and in a brutally honest new interview, she laments that she had to team up with a male artist to do it.
Lambert joined Jason Aldean for "Drowns the Whiskey," which he released as the second single from his current album, Rearview Town. The song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart, marking Lambert's first No. 1 single since she teamed with Carrie Underwood on "Somethin' Bad" in 2014. Even then, that song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at No. 7 in terms of radio airplay. Lambert's four singles from 2016's acclaimed The Weight of These Wings album all peaked outside of the Top 10 in terms of airplay.
"Yes, I had to sing with someone with a penis to get a No. 1," Lambert tells the Washington Post. "I do like this person, Jason Aldean, a lot ... so it was a great song with an old friend."
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She sees it as part of a trend in recent years that has seen female artists struggle at country radio, which has become more and more obviously slanted toward male artists.
"It is interesting that I haven't had even a Top 20 in a long, long time. And then it goes No. 1 because it's a dude," Lambert reflects. "But you know — if we went and looked at how many singles or records were sold for the Top 10 songs right now, I'd probably triple it on record sales. So it doesn't matter."
Lambert earned nearly universal praise for The Weight of These Wings, a multi-faceted double album that found her exploring more complex themes and styles. The album went platinum despite relatively modest support from country radio, and also won Lambert an armload of awards. She says she's not too concerned about whether country radio will play her music or not, offering a harsh assessment of the situation the genre is in at the moment.
"At this point, music's just an in-betweener for advertisements on radio," she says with trademark candor. "But that's fine, whatever ... There's so many other ways to find music, I feel like people can find us and find all these artists that they love in other facets besides radio."
Lambert recently reunited with Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe to release the long-awaited third Pistol Annies album, Interstate Gospel. The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. Its lead single, the feisty divorce anthem "Got My Name Changed Back," has yet to chart on Billboard's Country Airplay chart.
"Drowns the Whiskey" is nominated for Single, Song and Musical Event of the Year at the 2018 CMA Awards, which air live from Nashville on ABC on Wednesday night (Nov. 14). Lambert and Aldean have been announced to team up for a joint performance. Lambert is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year again in 2018.
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