In July, country singer Miranda Lambert was the subject of a VH1 Behind the Music special, during which she discussed at length her difficult upbringing and rocky road to fame.

However, Lambert admits, her past hasn’t always been an admirable rise to celebrity amid some hard knocks. In an interview on Dateline with Hoda Kotb, the singer admits to knowing full well that now-husband Blake Shelton was married when she met him in 2005 at the CMT 100 Greatest Duets Concert:

“I knew he was married,” said the 27-year-old singer during the interview. “I had seen their wedding picture in Country Weekly. I knew better, like, this is off limits. My parents are private investigators for God’s sake. I’ve seen this my whole life – affairs. Of all people to know better, I know better than this.”

At the time, Shelton was married to first wife Kaynette Williams- but the pair divorced just a year after Lambert and Shelton’s fateful meeting. And while Lambert admits creeping on another woman’s husband, the attraction wasn’t one sided. Shelton recounted during the Behind the Music special:

“I’ve never had that kind of experience with anybody… I was a married guy, you know? Standing up there and singing with somebody and going, ‘Man, this shouldn’t be happening.’ Looking back on that, I was falling in love with her, right there on stage.”

“It was just like this draw to each other. It was just sort of this inevitable chemistry.”

Shelton proposed to Lambert in 2010, and the couple were married in May of this year at the Don Strange Ranch in Texas. Reba McEntire, Kelly Clarkson, Cee-Lo and Martina McBride were among the guests at the fete.

Miranda Lambert Says She Knew Blake Shelton Was Married When They Met is a post from: The Inquisitr

The latest superstar to be featured on the Vh1 docu-series Behind the Music was none other than Miranda Lambert, the 27-year-old, Grammy-winning artist who has been called “one of the most unique voices in modern country music.”

The episode, which debuted Wednesday, July 13, chronicled Miranda’s rise to stardom, starting form her modest beginnings in rural Texas where she and her brother learned to “live off the land,” hunting and killing their own food.

From there, the documentary went into a bit of detail about how she was forced to grow up poor after her parents lost their P.I. business and virtually everything else the family owned in the blink of an eye, causing Lambert’s father to consider taking his own life.

In addition to Miranda’s childhood and upbringing, highlights of the Behind the Music special include the singers stint on NBC’s Nashville Star and as well as her win at the 2011 Grammys, where she nabbed the “Best Female Country Vocal Performance” honor.

The one-hour show wraps up by detailing Lambert’s relationship with fellow country artist and The Voice coach, Blake Shelton, who she married earlier this May.

In case you missed it yesterday, you can catch the full episode below:

via Taste of Country

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In May she married her “best friend,” fellow country singer Blake Shelton, on June 29th she will appear on the finale of NBC’s The Voice (in a duet with Dia Frampton, a finalist on the show), and apparently yesterday Lambert and her new girl group, Pistol Annies, penned their first record deal.

The band, whose members include Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, is the polar opposite of traditional groups that have been thrown together by corporate decision makers. CMT said it best when describing the lively trio:

“[These] Pistol Annies feel more like they came together out of a love for singing, songwriting and the kind of lifestyle that seems to be custom-made for country music.”

That “love” is clearly visible in their debut single Hell on Heels, which the group performed on April 22, 2011 during the taping of the Academy of Country Music’s ‘Girls’ Night Out’ television special.

Presley came up with the title and idea for ‘Hell on Heels’ long before the genesis of the Annies, but sat on it for quite a while, waiting for the right time.

“I kept waiting for the right person to write it with,” she said.

When she hooked up with Lambert and Monroe, it was the right people and the right time.

While no official details on Pistol Annies‘ first album release date have been revealed, you will be able to download Hell on Heels next week on iTunes.

via TasteofCountry

Miranda Lambert, Pistol Annies Sign Record Deal is a post from: The Inquisitr

After the eight semifinalists performed their songs, each of the four pairs of contestants received points from their coach/judge. That total was added to 100 points assigned as a percentage of viewers’ votes.

After Dia’s coach/judge, country music star Blake Shelton, split his 100 points between her and Xenia Martinez, 23-year-old Hampton’s fate was left in the hands of the viewers.

“I believe in them both so much and I love them. I mean, I really do,” Shelton said. “You can’t put a score on that. You can’t put a number on that.”

In the end, Frampton squeezed out a narrow victory by grabbing 56 of the 100 total viewer points available.

“I’m just so grateful for this opportunity,” said Frampton, fighting back tears.

The four finalists will perform on “The Voice” next Tuesday, June 27 at 9pm EST.

The winner, who will receive a $100,000 prize and a recording contract, will be declared during the show’s finale on Wednesday at 8pm. Additionally, Miranda Lambert, the Grammy-winning wife of Shelton, is scheduled to team up with Frampton for a special duet prior to the final vote.

Check out Frampton’s semi-final performance of “Losing My Religion” below:

via SLT

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Miranda Lambert had recommended to CBS that a three-second delay be used for Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards. The reason? She knows her fiance Blake Shelton well enough to know that he might slip and say something he’s not suppose to say.

Speaking with PEOPLE Lambert revealed:

“I told CBS, my advice for you is a 3-second delay because you never know what’s going to come out of his mouth, and you might not want that on live TV.”

Shelton is co-hosting with Reba McEntire.

The ACM Awards are currently part way through airing and have went off without a Shelton slip up, then again there’s still plenty of time left in the show that started at 8 p.m. ET.

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“Other stuff” being her new country music career– get your minds out of the gutters! Jessica Simpson must be consoled since her on-off relationship with Tony Romo is pretty shaky, most likely thanks to none other than Papa Joe.

Besides that, it looks like Jessica has finally found her niche: her single “Come on Over” debuted at number 41 on Billboard country singles charts. That makes Jessica the highest charting debut solo artist of all time, beating out Brad Cotter and Miranda Lambert who had debuted at 42. I’m impressed, and so is Jessica:

I got chills and butterflies in my stomach. It felt like the first time I heard myself on the radio when I was 19. Country is where my heart is. It’s refreshing to share something that feels so close to home. I am so honored to become a part of the country community.

Yay! That’s something to take her mind off of the horrific managing rumors about her dad.

Jessica Simpson: Bad at Relationships, Good at Other Stuff is a post from: The Inquisitr