With the CMA’s right around the corner, we’ve been taking a look back at some of the greatest moments on the show throughout the years.
From Alan Jackson’s 1999 protest performance of “Choices”, to Waylon Jennings’ 1975 acceptance speech, to Sturgill Simpson’s iconic busking performance outside of Bridgestone Arena and plenty more, we’ve seen wild stuff happen since the shows inception in 1967.
And today, I want to talk about Miranda Lambert’s very first appearance on the CMA stage back in 2005.
She’s the most nominated female act in the history of the show, the the third-most nominated artist of all time, and she has a grand total of 14 CMA awards under her belt. She also currently holds the record for most wins for Female Vocalist of the Year at seven.
This year, she’s nominated for the coveted Entertainer of the Year award, Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as Album of the Year for her new album Palomino.
And, she’ll be taking the stage as a performer, singing her fan favorite “Geraldene.”
But, this specific CMA performance is really what put her on the map in mainstream country music. She came out absolutely guns blazing and lit the stage on fire (pun very much intended), jumping around with some incredible pyro behind her and putting it all out there in terms of who she was as an artist from the jump.
As a result, she completely shook up the industry at a time when there really weren’t a whole out woman at the forefront of the genre.
In a mainstream genre that still seemingly tends to discourage women from displaying those types of emotions and sentiments so openly, it took guts for her to get up on that stage and sing a song about lighting her ex’s shit on fire and threatening to kill him as her official introduction to the genre.
A co-write with Steve Earle, it was the third single and title-track to her debut album and peaked at #15 on the Billboard U.S. Hot Country Songs chart. It was also her first Top 20 country hit and led to her very first Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
When you watch this video back now, it’s easy to see how badly the industry needed someone like her and why she resonated so deeply with so many people, especially young women.
If this ain’t what it means to bring the house down, I sure as shit don’t know what is:
With Luke Bryan taking on hosting duties this year alongside Peyton Manning, you can check out the showon Wednesday, November 9th, live from the Bridestone Arena again in Nashville.
And yes, we will be live-tweeting the entire thing.
“Kerosene”
