American country singer, b. 1966
Martina McBride was born Martina Schiff on July 29, 1966 in Medicine Lodge, Kansas. She was raised in Sharon, Kansas. She moved to Nashville in 1990. Before she signed with RCA in the early 1990s, she worked for Garth Brooks' tour, selling merchandise. It was a job she took to travel with her husband John McBride, whose company provided the sound for Brooks' concerts at the time.
Her first album, The Time Has Come, was released in 1992. It yielded no major hits, but she toured with Garth Brooks as the opening act that summer.
Her second album, The Way That I Am (1993), yielded her first top 10 country hit, "My Baby Loves Me". This album also contains "Independence Day", a powerful and controversial song about domestic violence. The song is considered by many to be her signature song.
Her next album, Wild Angels, was released in 1995. Her fourth album, Evolution (1997), yielded her first hits to cross over to the Billboard Hot 100 (Billboard's pop chart). The biggest of these hits, "Wrong Again", was a #1 country hit and a #36 pop hit. The success of Evolution helped her to become the first country performer chosen for the Lilith Fair tour in 1998, and to become the Country Music Association's 1999 Female Vocalist of the Year.
Her success continued with 1999's Emotion. The first single from this album, "I Love You", is her biggest hit to date; it spent five weeks at #1 on the country chart and also reached #24 on the Hot 100.
Her greatest hits compilation was released in the fall of 2001. It contains fourteen hits from her previous albums, and four new songs, including the top 10 country hit "When God-Fearin' Women Get The Blues".
She has been married to John McBride since 1988. They have two daughters: Delaney (b. 1994) and Emma (b. 1998).
Sources:
- Biographical information: The Martina McBride Official Website (http://martinamcbride.com)
- Hot 100 Chart Data: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1999