I was intrigued by an article I saw posted on Twitter about how Miranda Lambert might be the current queen of Country Music. I wouldn’t normally feel the need to reply to such articles but the writer specifically took a jab at Carrie Underwood by saying the following:
She’s not taking a Louisville Slugger to anyone’s car, à la Carrie Underwood.
There is nothing personally I don’t like about some healthy competition in Country Music, especially among the female artists. After all, queen or no queen, they are all underdogs in this overwhelmingly patriarchal industry.
However, I felt that I need to point out somethings to the writer of the article, concerning Carrie Underwood. I will make point them out succinctly.
– Both Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert have started from reality TV-shows. The difference between them is that Lambert’s show is especially designed for country artists: it takes less to be noticed. Carrie’s show is broader, granted, but it makes it especially difficult for a female singer to be noticed. Carrie won her show, Lambert did not.
– The alluded Carrie Underwood track, “Before He Cheats,” is not her only hit. It might be her biggest hit overall, but she has 13 other hits under her belt, 12 of which have gone to #1. Lambert has 2 #1s.
– Unlike Lambert who followed up her biggest hit “The House That Built Me” with a song that was even referenced in the article as one pertaining to Lambert’s beauty, “Only Prettier”, which barely made the top 10, Carrie Underwood followed up “Before He Cheats” with a song that spent 3 weeks at #1: “Wasted.”
– The writer made a big deal of how Miranda Lambert’s debut album spawned a hit and was certified Platinum. Need I mention what Carrie Underwood’s debut album managed? 7x Platinum and 4 #1 singles, is it?
– Carrie won Best New Artist at the Grammys, Lambert did not.
– Carrie has brought legions of new fans to the country music genre, I don’t believe Lambert has had that effect – or at least as broadly.
– Carrie has won Entertain Of The Year twice. No other female has ever done that. And Lambert doesn’t look close to doing so. The writer boasts about her selling out an arena for her tour. Well, Carrie sold out hundreds of those arenas for her Play On tour. Millions of fans attended. I don’t need to cite sources for this, right?
– Revolution might have been the more critically acclaimed album but does the certification of “queen” involve a bunch of critics or the fans? Play On (2x platinum) has outsold Revolution (1x platinum).
– Miranda Lambert has won the CMA and ACM Female Vocalist Of The Year this past year. But let’s not forget who won those awards three times so far.
– The writer mentions how Lambert shows “no signs of stopping.” Does Underwood show any signs of stopping? She is busy writing her fourth album right now.
It’s nice when country artists start to get recognized, especially after struggling. And I personally have nothing against Miranda Lambert. I really appreciate her music. But no one came out and declared Carrie Underwood the new country queen when she won her first CMA Female Vocalist or when her album was having record breaking sales or when she won her first Entertainer Of The Year. She was always viewed as the country girl from Oklahoma who got lucky on that outsider show called American Idol. But what really makes a true country queen is the love fans have for her. And we, the fans, have shown our dedication for Carrie over and over again. I’ve taken time to write this, haven’t I?
The awards might have stopped pouring in. But they will come. Just wait… I have faith that Carrie will deliver a breath-taking fourth album. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Carrie Underwood is vastly taken for granted in the Country Music scene. And she just doesn’t seem to care. She seems unfazed, continues to smile and give out her best. And for that, she is a true queen.
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 
Pingback: My reply to the "Miranda Lambert queen of country music article"
great article! Reba is still the Queen, honestly, so I take offense to Miranda being labeled Queen. She is more of a princess in waiting, behind Carrie and Taylor (though Taylor is more pop then country- lol). I like Miranda Lambert too, but I cannot believe how badly Carrie is being treated lately. First she gets snubbed for Entertainer when Miranda’s “headlining” tour was only 2k people, while Carrie toured to almost 1 million people in 2010 at big arenas, with 108 shows, and got rave reviews.
I like both Carrie and Miranda, but nominating Miranda for Entertainer over Carrie was wrong on so many levels. Miranda is doing great and I love her album, but she is not at Entertainer level yet. It is too soon for her for that honor. Carrie is still the Princess, and Reba is the Queen.
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Exactly my point. Someone gets a brief period of success and the labels start. But not with Carrie! Why’s that?
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I agree, Carrie is still taken for granted on every level (vocals, songwriting, live shows, etc.) since she is THAT GOOD anytime, every time. She performs on an entirely different level. If Kenny can win ETOY 4 years in a row, then Carrie should win 3 since Carrie honestly blows Kenny away on almost any level, except maybe stadium shows (but ACM and CMA always fall for his country Jimmy Buffett , good ole boy done good schtick every time… sad). Bottom Line, if Carrie is the best then she should win every year. She has earned it, especially this past year. ACM still has a few weeks to make this right before voting starts.
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Exactly. No need to bump you down when you’re way up there!
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I am a huge Carrie fan and have been from idol. I really like Mirandas music as well. But Carrie is in a class of superb singers(Faith , Martina) she is also a very humble person. Who is great friends with Miranda, and has said it is about time Miranda got recognized. She is class. Reba is still the queen. Faith, Martina, Carrie. Taylor is a sweet but she is defnetly not(voice in the same ball park. Go Carrie. Carrie will be back full steam, just watch,
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Thank you for your comment! Yes, Carrie is all kinds of awesome 😀
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Carrie Underwood was robbed this year!! Miranda cannot hold a candle to Carrie. CU is the best voice and performer in the business !! Her voice, energy, beauty, grace, songwriting, live shows, and overall amazing personality make her untouchable.. Yes, she has won many awards, but for some crazy reason she’s been virtually shut out by ACM and CMA this year, whereas ML has been racking many awards for such an average album, voice ,and performances. Objectively, critics agree Carrie has the best voice is music, so Miranda or Taylor should not win best vocalist just to “change it up” with a new flavor each year. How can Carrie not be nominated for EOTY when she just came off an incredible year (1M+ sold out tour, 1.8M cds sold, TV show guest appearance, Golden Globe nom, BMI awards, co-wrote 3 #1 singles during 2010)??? It seem she still gets knocked for American Idol, when in fact Miranda Lambert came from the even cheesier “Nashville Star” reality show… why the heck doesn’t anyone mention that? Because then Lambert’s authentic roots would be questioned or tarnished. I can’t stand this hypocrisy… Carrie was robbed, no one can touch her. She IS the Queen of Country – just aks Randy Travis, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, or Brad Paisley.. c’mon ACM – this is plain wrong. Miranda can fool people with her exagerrated twang so long.. the awards will swing back to Carrie long-term (let’s hope). BTW – Lambert’s recent Grammy performance was extremely boring and anti-climactic since her win was guaranteed due to this year’s hype-machine. Too bad, viewers really missed Carrie giving us a historic perfomrance as usual.
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Regarding the Grammy performance, it was the exact same one I saw at the ACMs last year.
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Yes, I do not want to knock Miranda but her live performance of “That’s The Way the World Goes Around” on last CMA’s was jaw-droppingly bad… I mean it truly exposed her as an average (if not subpar) entertainer and star. Frankly, it looked like a 2nd rate bar-band. Is this what ACM deems ETOY over Carrie, Reba, or Flatts? WOW… the industry really goofed on that one. agree?
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I haven’t seen it yet, actually.
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What a great article! I like Miranda’s music and everything too, but whenever someone says things about Carrie I’m going to be on her side no matter what! It frustrates me when people do that like she hasn’t accoplished anything at all. I would like to point out that whenver something is fan voted who usually wins….CARRIE!! So who’s fans are really always on her side and there for her NO MATTER WHAT! Carrie fans! Enough said!
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Exactly! Whenever Carrie is scorned, we’re there to help 🙂
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And Carrie has always spoken highly of Miranda, and in my opinion, tried to help her career as a friend. Carrie always handles everything with grace. She will do the same with this.
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That’s what I meant by the last sentence: Carrie seems unfazed by all of this, handling everything with grace. She was the first to congratulate Miranda on her Female Vocalist win at the ACMs last year, telling her “long-time coming”
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I’m still not over this yet !!Yes, the ACM’s are to blame because they know better-everybody threw out any guidelines and voted for their friends!–we already know her record company–who makes big bucks off her–did not push for her to be nominated because they could only support one female so they chose Miranda!!-So funny !!-they are “pushing” 4 different guys now with no problem !!–Where is her management?–They should have never let them get away with this!! do you think Taylor’s manager would let something she did get by unnoticed? unrewarded?-over-and over-and over again!!–Carrie worked extremely hard this year and instead of a award–or even any recognition–she received a penalty!!! IT”S JUST WRONG !!!!
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As I said, it’s mostly a patriarchal business. Much easier to push a man that a woman.
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BTW – how does Toby Keith get nominated ETOY again when he’s done a fraction of what Carrie accomplished during 2010? why – because I’m finally admitting country music is sexist and continues to reward average voices, cliched’ lyrics, and old boys club over and over again (Kenny, Brad, Toby, Tim…), when women (Carrie, Miranda, Sara, Martina) have to come to the plate with 3 TIMES the talent & delivery to get the same notices… this is wrong, and Carrie’s continual snub makes this reality a sad truth. This must change, and now!!
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I actually like Brad and hope he wins the EOTY seeing as Carrie is not nominated. But yeah, it is a sexist business. It’s like having 2 females nominated in EOTY is enough. And Carrie winning twice put off a lot of people from actually giving her a much deserved third nomination.
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This is a joke, Miranda is nothing compared to Carrie,
only reason Carrie’s not up for EOTY is because the music business is pushing Miranda, Carrie don’t need help. Miranda has never or will never do the things Carrie has accomplished. Carrie is the queen of country 😀
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Carrie has never bragged (as Miranda has via her dog’s twitter) about being called the queen of country music. So Carrie is down to earth and a truly genuine person. Her music rocks as well, obviously.
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You are an idiot. @delilah_lambert is NOT postings by Miranda Lambert. Miranda is classy and doesn’t trash talk people, especially via a fake Twitter account. Check your facts, Jack and shut up!
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Delilah_Lambert is the twitter of Miranda’s dog. She tweets through it. I’d hate to reply to the rest of your post. So just know that I’m rolling my eyes 🙂
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she wasn’t bragging.. she was posting an interiew, like every other interview. it was the writer that named the interview that.
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Does she make it a habit of sharing every interview she does? I don’t think so. Therefore, the only reason this interview got the preferential treatment is because of the title.
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No, they are right Miranda didn’t take a baseball bat to her cheating boyfriend’s truck……….She just burned down his house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carrie is Country Music’s Princess and the next Queen of Country! I remember when Kitty Wells and Loretta Lynn were the Queens! So you see where I see Carrie going?
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LOL… Thank you for the comment!
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I totally agree with the article. They pulled out the FACTS! I mean who do these people think they are trying to boss hog their way into an already established and award winning artist who stands for so many good things? I love Carrie I can’t wait for the next album. When I think of Reba in my head Carrie is right there with her, no in competition but in style and grace. LOVE HER
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Yet ANOTHER amazing article! 🙂
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Thank you Dustin! 🙂
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Fantastic post! You pretty much said everything us fans have been thinking (and posting on the Carrie Fan board). Carrie’s 4th album will be her usurping the throne (even though she never left) and becoming triumphant once again with more #1 singles and great album sales. I really just can’t wait for that. Then, we can rub it in all the critics faces.
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Thank you for your comment and thank you for finding it good enough to post it on your blog!
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Pingback: Miranda Lambert: Country’s New Queen? Nope. (via A Separate State of Mind) « Music, Words, Passion
I’ve read the articles and I’ve watched both Carrie and Miranda from the early days. I was sold on Carrie from her very first appearance on AI. I’ve watched her become a very poised and polished young woman. Always a powerhouse, she has definitely proven herself to have “country diva” status not unlike Faith Hill. Like Faith, she is beautiful, poised and well rounded. What you don’t see in Carrie, that is blatantly
obvious in Miranda Lambert, is pure,
straightforward, unapologetic COUNTRY. Carrie is far more likely to appeal to crossover
audiences for her style and looks alone. Miranda
embodies a more relaxed type of country girl
persona that seems less former prom queen and
more your sassy small town girlfriend. Each of these ladies is a star in my opinion but they are nothing alike in vocal style or any style in my opinion. Carrie is obviously a serious & powerful
vocal talent, Miranda, however, is a unique and purely country voice with amazing talent in her own right. If it seems “country music” is favoring Miranda, maybe it’s because they feel she is less likely to bring fans to country that want to hear a more pop version of country music and more likely to bring fans, who in looking for more like her, will find themselves delving into voices and styles that are more indicative of the roots of the original country music sound.
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Carrie does have crossover appeal but she doesn’t act on it. It would have been too easy for her to get at least Cowboy Casanova and Undo It from “Play On” to become a moderate hit on pop and HAC. She did not pursue the apparent interest in airplay because she wants to stick in country.
Miranda does not have that luxury. She doesn’t have to suppress that, which makes Carrie an even more country-faithful person, imo.
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Miranda cannot sell out regular venues, or stadium venues like Carrie, Martina, Reba or Taylor, etc. And Miranda only has a couple of hits, whereas Carrie has many #1 hits, favorite album, etc. The two of them don’t even come close in comparison! Carrie out ranks Miranda in every category!! She only won this year because her friends kept voting for her, not her fans. It has to be rigged. Miranda is no “Queen of Country” but Carrie sure is!
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That’s exactly what I said! I wouldn’t call Carrie queen of country, as much as I want to, though. She still has a long way to go! But she will definitely get there. She has survived not being the it-girl anymore perfectly. Will Miranda survive it? We’ll see 🙂
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Great article. It so true that Carrie seems to be completely overlooked lately. I saw both Carrie and Miranda this year and it is no competition. I was not really impressed by Miranda. She was good but I guess I’ve just been spoiled by how amazing Carrie is live. I have to say I was very pleased Lady Antebellum took home the Grammy for Best Country Album because I think “Revolution” is good but highly overrated. I think “Need You Now” is better. Also, I’m bewildered at how “Temporary Home” has been so overlooked for awards. It is such a great song and hearing it live is a life-changing event… but no nominations. What is up with that???
It is so strange how Carrie was more successful in every way possible this year but Miranda still gets all the praise. However unfair, it was predictable. For some reason the critics have been chomping at the bit for a while to award Miranda. Even back when they were both brand new, Miranda seemed to have critics on her side but couldn’t buy a hit. Carrie was of course having #1 after #1, so she kept winning. As soon as Miranda got a #1, the critics saw that enough affirmation to adorn her with awards.
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Very good observation! Yeah, Carrie owns almost everyone live. She never misses a note and is absolutely breathtaking when she sings. And yeah, I think the production on “Revolution” is kinda faulty. I feel like the music on it is too loud compared to Miranda’s vocals. I prefer Need You Now and on top of them both, I prefer Play On.
Temporary Home is vastly misunderstood! They all thought it’s about homelessness. I mean, how can you judge a song that you don’t really understand?
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I enjoyed this article alot! I never really paid attention to who’s going to be the NEXT Queen of Country, because Reba McEntire is clearly still in action-and is ridiculously amazing at that-but what you are saying makes sense, I love both Miranda and Carrie, but I think I’m seeing your point of view! Thanks for this article!
P.S. Did I mention Reba’s still the Queen?? 😉 lol.
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Reba, Dolly, Loretta Lynn… Many greats are still out there 🙂
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your good
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