Martina McBride

Biography

Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff; born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. An icon in the country music world, she is known for her country pop material with a powerful soprano voice and expansive range. McBride has won the Country Music Association Award for Female Vocalist of the Year award four times (tied with Reba McEntire for the third-most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award three times. She is also a 14-time Grammy Award nominee.
McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1989. She signed to RCA Records in 1991, and made her debut the following year as a neo-traditionalist country singer with the single, "The Time Has Come×The Time Has Come12 May 1992 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1The Time Has Come2:342That's Me3:523True Blue Fool2:594Losing You Feels Good3:205Walk That Line2:506Cheap Whiskey3:097I Can't Sleep2:478A Woman Knows3:189The Rope4:0210When You Are Old3:07". Over time, she developed a pop-styled crossover sound, similar to Shania Twain and Faith Hill, and had a string of singles on the Billboard country chart and occasionally on the adult contemporary chart. Five of these singles went to No. 1 on the country chart between 1995 and 2001, and one peaked at No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart in 2003.
McBride has fourteen studio albums, two greatest hits compilations, one "live" album, as well as two additional compilation albums. Eight of her studio albums and two of her compilations have an RIAA Gold certification, or higher. In the U.S., she has sold over 14 million albums.

Early life

Martina Mariea Schiff was born in Sharon, Kansas, on July 29, 1966. She has two brothers, Martin and Steve, who play in her concert band as of 2017, and a sister, Gina.
McBride's parents, Daryl and Jeanne Schiff, owned a dairy farm. Daryl, who was also a cabinetry shop owner, exposed her to country music at a young age. Listening to country music helped her acquire a love for singing. After school, she sang for hours along to the records of such popular artists as Reba McEntire, Linda Ronstadt, Juice Newton, Jeanne Pruett, Connie Smith, and Patsy Cline. Around the age of eight or nine, Martina began singing with a band her father fronted, "The Schiffters". As she grew older her role in the band progressively increased, from simply singing, to also playing keyboard with them. She enjoyed performing in her early years.
McBride began performing with a local rock band, The Penetrators, in Wichita instead. Then, in 1987, Schiff gathered a group of musicians called Lotus and started looking for rehearsal space; she began renting space from studio engineer John McBride. In 1988, the two married.
After marrying, the couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1989 with the hope of beginning a career in country music. John McBride joined Garth Brooks's sound crew and later became his concert production manager. Martina occasionally joined her husband on the road and helped sell Garth Brooks souvenirs. In 1990, impressed by her enthusiastic spirit, Brooks offered her the position of his opening act provided she could obtain a recording contract. During this time, while her husband was working with country artists Charlie Daniels and Ricky Van Shelton, he also helped produce her demo tape, which helped her gain a recording contract with RCA Nashville Records in 1991.

1992–1995: The Time Has Come and The Way That I Am

McBride released her debut studio album by RCA Records in 1992, titled The Time Has Come×The Time Has Come12 May 1992 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1The Time Has Come2:342That's Me3:523True Blue Fool2:594Losing You Feels Good3:205Walk That Line2:506Cheap Whiskey3:097I Can't Sleep2:478A Woman Knows3:189The Rope4:0210When You Are Old3:07. It was produced by Paul Worley and Ed Seay. This album's title track made it to number 23 on the country music charts, while the next two singles both failed to make the Top 40. Unlike her later country pop-influenced albums, The Time Has Come featured honky tonk and country folk influences. McBride also contributed an arrangement of Paul Williams's original composition "When Love is Gone" to the soundtrack of the 1992 Brian Henson film The Muppet Christmas Carol.
The Way That I Am was McBride's second album. Its first two singles both brought her into the country top ten: "My Baby Loves Me×My Baby Loves Me1993 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAMy Baby Loves Me2:35BA Woman Knows3:17", the album's de facto title song, peaked at number two, and "Life No. 9" peaked at number six. The former was previously a Top 10 hit in Canada for Patricia Conroy. However, it was the third single, "Independence Day×Independence Day1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAIndependence DayBTrue Blue Fool", which was prevented from reaching the Top 10 through the oppositions of many radio programmers, who objected to the song's subject of a mother fighting back against abuse by burning the family home to the ground. "Independence Day" won Video of the Year and Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards, and has since become McBride's signature song. It also earned the song's composer, Gretchen Peters, a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. The song also gave McBride a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. McBride performed the song at the 1995 Grammys ceremony. The fourth and fifth singles from The Way That I Am were less successful: "Heart Trouble" peaked at number 21, and "Where I Used to Have a Heart" fell short of the Top 40. McBride later criticized these single choices, saying that she felt "Strangers" would have been a better followup, as that song was more popular with fans and later appeared on her first greatest-hits album. The Way That I Am was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"My Baby Loves Me (Just The Way That I Am)", as produced and released, proved to have a sing-along quality that led McBride to sing it that way in her subsequent concerts.

1995–1999: Wild Angels and Evolution

McBride's third album, Wild Angels×Wild Angels26 September 1995 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Wild Angels3:452Safe in the Arms of Love3:153Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town3:324A Great Disguise4:045Swingin’ Doors3:286All the Things We’ve Never Done3:257Two More Bottles of Wine3:168Cry on the Shoulder of the Road3:099You’ve Been Driving All the Time4:4310Born to Give My Love to You3:1711Beyond the Blue2:41, was released in 1995. It accounted for another Top 5 hit in its lead single "Safe in the Arms of Love", which had previously been recorded by both Wild Choir and Baillie & the Boys, and was concurrently released in Canada by Michelle Wright at the time of McBride's version. The album's title track went on to become McBride's first No. 1 single on the country charts in early 1996. The album's third, fourth, and fifth singles, "Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town", "Swingin' Doors", and "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" were less successful, having reached the lower regions of the Top 40.
In early 1997, after "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" peaked, McBride released two duets. "Still Holding On", a duet with Clint Black which was the lead-off single to her fourth album Evolution×Evolution26 August 1997 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1I’m Little but I’m Loud0:572Happy Girl3:273Be That Way3:344A Broken Wing3:365Wrong Again3:156Keeping My Distance3:527Still Holding On3:578Whatever You Say4:309I Won’t Close My Eyes3:3910I Don’t Want to See You Again3:0011Some Say I’m Running4:0612Here in My Heart3:5113One Day You Will2:3714Valentine3:23 and Black's album Nothin' but the Taillights, and "Valentine×Valentine1997 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Valentine3:16", a collaboration with pop pianist Jim Brickman which appeared on his album Picture This. She also sang duet vocals on "Chances Are" with Bob Seger, featured on the soundtrack of the 1998 motion picture Hope Floats.
She had her second number one on the country charts with "A Broken Wing", the second single from her Evolution album, in late 1997. Evolution went on to produce four more Top 10 hits at country radio: a re-release of "Valentine", "Happy Girl", "Wrong Again" (which also went to number one), and "Whatever You Say". Towards the end of 1998, the album was certified double platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling two million units. In addition, she also won the Country Music Association Awards' "Female Vocalist of the Year" award in 1999

Also in 1998, McBride released her first Christmas album titled White Christmas×White Christmas29 August 1998 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas4:072Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow1:493The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)3:434O Holy Night3:475Silver Bells2:446Away in a Manger3:317White Christmas3:228What Child Is This3:489I'll Be Home for Christmas3:1310Silent Night3:25, which featured a rendition of "O Holy Night" that first charted in 1997 and continued to re-enter the charts until 2001. She also sang a guest vocal on Jason Sellers' mid-1998 single "This Small Divide".

1999–2002: Emotion and Greatest Hits

McBride's sixth studio album, Emotion×Emotion14 September 1999 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Do What You Do3:242Anything’s Better Than Feelin’ the Blues3:003I Love You2:514Make Me Believe3:495Love’s the Only House5:116There You Are3:237It’s My Time3:328I Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere3:479Anything and Everything3:4210From the Ashes4:3611Good Bye4:1412This Uncivil War4:4713For the Love of a Woman3:57, was released in 1999. Its lead single, "I Love You×I Love You1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1I Love You (Pop Version)2:522Happy Girl3:273Valentine3:13", reached number one on the Billboard country charts in 1999, and also crossed over to the Adult Contemporary chart. The song's follow-ups, "Love's the Only House" and "There You Are", both made the Top 5 at country radio, and "It's My Time" peaked at number 11.
In 2001, she released her first compilation, Greatest Hits. This album has been certified 3× Platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, and is her highest-selling album. It included most of her major hits to that point, and the album track "Strangers" from the album The Way That I Am×The Way That I Am14 September 1993 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Heart Trouble3:202My Baby Loves Me2:373That Wasn’t Me3:444Independence Day3:255Where I Used to Have a Heart3:506Goin’ to Work3:307She Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet3:278Life #94:049Strangers3:2210Ashes2:56, which she put on the album because she felt that it should have been a single. The album also included four new songs, all of which were Top 10 hit on the country music charts between 2001 and 2003: "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues" (at number 8), "Blessed" (at number 1), "Where Would You Be" (at number 3), and "Concrete Angel" (at number 5). Carolyn Dawn Johnson sang backing vocals on "Blessed"; conversely, McBride sang backing vocals on Johnson's late-2000 debut single, titled "Georgia". Late in 2002, McBride also sang backing vocals on Andy Griggs's single "Practice Life".

2003–04: Martina

In 2003, McBride released her seventh studio album, Martina×Martina30 September 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1So Magical3:522She's a Butterfly4:003City of Love2:594This One's for the Girls4:045How Far3:576Reluctant Daughter2:377Wearing White2:518When You Love Me4:329In My Daughter’s Eyes3:1510Learning to Fall3:5811God's Will5:5012Over the Rainbow (live)3:34, which celebrated womanhood. The first single, "This One's for the Girls", went to number 3 on the country charts and became her only number-one hit on the Adult Contemporary charts. It also included backing vocals from Faith Hill, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, and McBride's daughters, Delaney and Emma. Follow-up single "In My Daughter's Eyes" was also a Top 5 hit at both country and adult contemporary. "How Far" and "God's Will" both made the Top 20 at country radio, as did her guest appearance on Jimmy Buffett's single "Trip Around the Sun", whose chart run overlapped that of "God's Will".
In 2004, McBride won the CMA's Female Vocalist award for the fourth time, following the wins in 2003, 2002 and 1999, which tied her for the most wins in that category with Reba McEntire.

2005–2008: Timeless and Waking Up Laughing

After finding success in country pop-styled music, McBride released her next studio album, Timeless×Timeless18 October 2005 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 22 tracks1You Win Again3:002I'll Be There2:183I Can't Stop Loving You4:224(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden3:155Today I Started Loving You Again3:466You Ain't Woman Enough2:137Once a Day2:248Pick Me Up on Your Way Down2:419I Don't Hurt Anymore3:0810True Love Ways3:1511'Til I Can Make It on My Own3:1712I Still Miss Someone2:5613Heartaches by the Number3:0614Satin Sheets3:2015Thanks a Lot2:3616Love's Gonna Live Here2:0217Make the World Go Away2:5718Help Me Make It Through the Night3:5519Dreaming My Dreams3:5120Cryin' Time3:1021Walk on By2:2722Take These Chains From My Heart3:10, in 2005, which consisted of country covers. The album included cover versions of country music standards, such as Hank Williams' "You Win Again", Loretta Lynn's "You Ain't Woman Enough", and Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night". To make the album sound in its authentic style, McBride and her husband hired veteran Nashville session players and primarily incorporated vintage analog recording equipment. The album sold over 250,000 copies within its first week, the highest sales start for a McBride album. The lead single, a cover of Lynn Anderson's "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden", went to number 18 on the country charts, but the other two singles both failed to make top 40.
In 2006, McBride served as a guest coach on Canadian Idol. The remaining five finalists traveled to Nashville, where McBride worked with the competitors on the songs they had chosen by country artists such as Gordon Lightfoot and Patsy Cline. Among the other guest judges that year were Nelly Furtado and Cyndi Lauper.
McBride later joined Canadian Idol on a tour in the Spring.
In 2007, McBride also served as a guest coach on Fox Networks television series, American Idol.
In 2007, McBride released her ninth studio album, Waking Up Laughing×Waking Up Laughing3 April 2007 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1If I Had Your Name3:432Cry Cry (’til the Sun Shines)3:063Tryin’ to Find a Reason3:264For These Times4:165Anyway4:416How I Feel3:497I’ll Still Be Me3:498Beautiful Again2:569Everybody Does3:2710House of a Thousand Dreams3:5411Love Land3:57. It was the first album in which McBride co-wrote some of the tracks. She set up her Waking Up Laughing Tour in 2007, which included country artists Rodney Atkins, Little Big Town, and Jason Michael Carroll. The album's lead single, "Anyway", went to No. 5 on the Billboard Country Chart, becoming her first Top 10 hit since 2003. She also lent her voice singing "Anyway" in a Lifetime movie called, "A Life Interrupted" which premiered on April 23, 2007. Its follow-up, "How I Feel", reached the Top 15. In Spring 2008, McBride released Martina McBride: Live In Concert, a CD/DVD set. It was taped in Moline, Illinois in September 2007.
In July 2007, The ABC Television Network announced a special program called Six Degrees of Martina McBride where individuals from around the country were challenged to find their way to McBride on their own connections and research using a maximum of six methods. The "winner" of this challenge eventually located a direct connection to McBride through her husband, John, who knew someone, who knew someone else.
McBride recorded an electronically produced duet with Elvis Presley, performing his song "Blue Christmas" as a duet with him on his latest compilation, The Elvis Presley Christmas Duets. A compilation collection, titled Playlist: The Very Best of Martina McBride×Playlist: The Very Best of Martina McBride2 December 2008 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1My Baby Loves Me2:382Wild Angels3:473Safe in the Arms of Love3:154There You Are (remix)3:255Happy Girl3:296It's My Time3:347Wrong Again (acoustic)3:158Show Me4:309I Love You (Pop remix)2:5510How I Feel3:5011This One's for the Girls (remix)4:0512Cryin' Time3:1213Independence Day3:2714God Bless America3:30, was released on December 16, 2008, as part of Sony BMG Playlist series. The album features 11 previously released tracks and three unreleased tracks.

2008–2010: Shine

McBride wrapped up production of her tenth studio album in late 2008. The first single, "Ride", was released to radio in October 2008 and debuted at No. No. 43 on the Hot Country Songs chart. It barely missed the Top 10 on the chart, peaking at number eleven in March 2009. A music video produced by Kristin Barlowe was also released at the end of the year. The album, Shine×Shine24 March 2009 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong3:422Just Call You Mine4:203Sunny Side Up3:014Walk Away3:455I’m Trying4:016What Do I Have to Do3:427Don’t Cost a Dime3:138Ride3:539You’re Not Leaving Me3:4610Wild Rebel Rose3:5511Lies4:07, was released by RCA Records on March 24, 2009, and debuted at the top of the U.S. Country album chart and number 10 on the Billboard 200. McBride co-produced the album with Dann Huff, and it featured "Sunny Side Up", a song that she co-wrote. The second single, "I Just Call You Mine", was released in May 2009 and reached the Top 20. The third single from Shine was "Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong", which the Warren Brothers co-wrote with Robert Ellis Orrall and Love and Theft member Stephen Barker Liles.
McBride also initiated the Shine All Night Tour, a co-headlining venture with fellow country star and friend Trace Adkins and opening act Sarah Buxton. The tour began in November 2009 and ended in May 2010.
On June 10, 2010, Billboard announced that McBride had collaborated on a song with Kid Rock. In late June 2010, McBride was nominated for a Teen Choice Award, "Favorite Country Female Artist", alongside country stars Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift and Gretchen Wilson.
In late 2010, McBride was nominated for two American Country Awards (Best Female Single & Touring Artist of the year w/ Trace Adkins.) Along with the ACA nominations, she received her 14th Female Vocalist nomination for Country Music Association in October.

2010–2016: Eleven and Everlasting

McBride exited RCA in November 2010 and signed with Republic Nashville. She began working on a new studio album with producer Byron Gallimore. Her first single for Republic Nashville is "Teenage Daughters×Teenage Daughters29 March 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Teenage Daughters3:55", which she also co-wrote with the Warren Brothers. McBride told Country Weekly that she co-wrote eight of the eleven songs on the album; she decided to write more frequently because she felt more confident in her songwriting ability after "Anyway" had become a hit. An album track, "One Night" was released as a promotion for NASCAR with a music video in June 2011.
"I'm Gonna Love You Through It×I'm Gonna Love You Through It25 July 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1I'm Gonna Love You Through It3:45" was released as the album's second single on July 25, 2011. The song became a critical and commercial hit, peaking at number 4 and becoming her first top five hit since 2006's "Anyway". The album, titled Eleven×Eleven10 October 2011 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1One Night4:152Always Be This Way3:263I'm Gonna Love You Through It3:494Marry Me3:465Broken Umbrella3:176You Can Get Your Lovin' Right Here3:477Whatcha Gonna Do3:578Teenage Daughters4:089Summer of Love4:2110When You Love a Sinner2:5711Long Distance Lullaby2:51, was released on October 11, 2011. Its third single was a cover of Train's "Marry Me", recorded as a duet with Train lead singer Pat Monahan. In September 2011, McBride was nominated for the CMA's Female Vocalist award for the 15th time, and 14th time consecutively.
RCA Records released two compilation albums in 2012, Hits and More×Hits and More17 January 2012 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks1My Baby Loves Me2:362Independence Day3:263Wild Angels3:464A Broken Wing3:355Valentine3:136Happy Girl3:287Whatever You Say4:308I Love You2:539Love’s the Only House5:1310Blessed4:3511Where Would You Be4:3312Concrete Angel4:1313This One’s for the Girls4:0314In My Daughter’s Eyes3:1415Anyway4:4416Ride3:5417Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong3:4218Surrender3:4419Straight to the Bone4:1720Being Myself3:40 in January and The Essential Martina McBride×The Essential Martina McBride30 October 2012 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 40 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11The Time Has Come2:342My Baby Loves Me2:363Life #94:044Independence Day3:265Heart Trouble3:206Safe In The Arms Of Love3:147Wild Angels3:468Valentine3:139A Broken Wing3:3610Still Holding On4:4011Happy Girl3:2812Wrong Again3:1713'Til I Can Make It On My Own3:1114Chances Are4:1715Whatever You Say4:3116I Love You (Single Version)2:5317Love's The Only House5:1418It's My Time3:3519When God-Fearin' Women Get The Blues5:0120How Great Thou Art (Amazing Grace Album Version)4:02Disc 21Blessed4:362Where Would You Be4:333Concrete Angel4:134This One's For The Girls4:035In My Daughter's Eyes3:146How Far3:557God's Will5:488Trip Around The Sun3:199(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden3:1610Harper Valley PTA3:2711Feels Like Home4:3612Anyway4:4313Through Your Eyes4:0814I Just Call You Mine4:2315Ride3:5416Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong3:4217Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man3:0118At Last3:0519Sweet Dreams Of You (with Take 6)2:3420Over The Rainbow (Live)3:33 in October.
McBride released Everlasting, a collection of R&B and Soul covers, on April 8, 2014, via Kobalt Label Services. The album includes duets with Kelly Clarkson and Gavin DeGraw, and was produced by Don Was.
In September 2014, McBride received her 17th Female Vocalist nomination from the Country Music Association. She was tied with Reba McEntire for most nominations in any vocalist category, until McEntire's 18th nomination in 2017.

2016–present: Reckless and Vocal Point podcast

In 2016, McBride released a new single called "Reckless×Reckless29 April 2016 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Reckless3:312It Ain’t Pretty3:193Just Around the Corner3:304Everybody Wants to Be Loved4:115The Real Thing3:246That’s the Thing About Love3:297Low All Afternoon3:508Diamond2:599We’ll Pick Up Where We Left Off4:1510You and You Alone2:59", the title track for a new album. Reckless was released on April 29 through Nash Icon Records. It was recorded at Blackbird Studios and produced by Nathan Chapman and Dann Huff. The album includes 10 songs, one of which is the previously released single "Reckless". According to McBride, making this album felt like "coming home". Reckless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart.
On June 8, 2016, McBride debuted the video for her second single, "Just Around The Corner", during the CMT Music Awards. This song is the official Band Against Cancer anthem. Band Against Cancer is a community-based movement led by Sarah Cannon (the cancer institute of HCA) in partnership with Big Machine Label Group and McBride, which aims to raise awareness, support and resources to those diagnosed with cancer. The initiative includes a series of concerts across United States, with McBride as a headliner.
In August 2016, the singer announced a new tour called "Love Unleashed". According to McBride, the purpose of the tour was to unite people and spread love through the power of music as a response to the "tragedy and uncertainty in the world". She was also selected as one of 30 artists to perform on "Forever Country", a mash-up track of Take Me Home, Country Roads; On the Road Again; and I Will Always Love You which celebrated 50 years of the CMA Awards.
In July 2017, McBride revealed she is planning on releasing a Christmas album, of which she said " It won't have as many hymns on it. It will be more things like 'Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town' and 'It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.'" She later announced that it would be released in 2018, "One is a new Christmas album, which will come out in 2018." The Christmas album It's the Holiday Season×It's the Holiday Season28 October 2019 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1It's the Holiday Season was released on October 19, 2018. Its release would accompany a Christmas tour, called "Joy of Christmas" as well as a cookbook called "Martina×Martina30 September 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1So Magical3:522She's a Butterfly4:003City of Love2:594This One's for the Girls4:045How Far3:576Reluctant Daughter2:377Wearing White2:518When You Love Me4:329In My Daughter’s Eyes3:1510Learning to Fall3:5811God's Will5:5012Over the Rainbow (live)3:34's Kitchen Mix: My Recipe Playlist for Real Life" released on October 30, 2018. This was McBride's second cookbook, following her 2014 release called "Around the Table: Recipes and Inspiration for Gatherings Throughout the Year". McBride also launched a show on Food Network, airing on Sundays at 11am eastern.
In 2019, McBride began the podcast Vocal Point, a "free-wheeling, wide-ranging" topical conversation series.
On May 4, 2020, McBride appeared in the second-season episode of NBC's Songland and released the song "Girls Like Me×Girls Like Me4 May 2020 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Girls Like Me3:15".
In March 2022, McBride sold her Master Royalty Rights to Primary Wave. The company also took ownership and distribution rights for her Everlasting album and the singer's It's the Holiday Season Christmas album. McBride was announced as the opening act for The Judds Final Tour, scheduled to begin in summer 2022. However, Naomi Judd died before the tour could begin. Her daughter, Wynonna, announced at her memorial that she and McBride would honor the tour dates as a tribute to Naomi.

Personal life

In 1988, Martina Schiff, as she was known up to that time, married sound engineer John McBride, taking his family name as her stage name. The couple have three daughters: Delaney Katharine (born December 22, 1994), Emma Justine (born March 29, 1998), and Ava Rose Kathleen (born June 20, 2005). After becoming a mother, the singer reduced her touring schedule only to holidays and summers so that her daughters could have a normal upbringing. Joe Galante said this was "an enormous choice in terms of money", but McBride had made it very clear that she wanted to be present in her daughters' lives.

Charity work

McBride works with a variety of charities. She has served as a spokeswoman for the National Domestic Violence Hotline as well as for the National Network to End Domestic Violence and national spokeswoman for the Tulsa Domestic Violence and Intervention Services. Every year since 1995, she has hosted Middle Tennessee's YWCA, "Celebrity Auction", and it has raised nearly $400,000 so far. McBride was awarded the "Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award" in 2003. In 2004, she worked with "Kids Wish Network" to fulfill the wish of a young girl dying from muscular dystrophy.
McBride explained that educating girls and women on domestic violence is something she works on at home with her own daughters, stating:

A lot of teenage girls will be first dating and they'll think, 'Oh he doesn't want me to see my friends. He just wants me all to himself. Isn't that sweet?' Or 'Oh, he's just being protective. Isn't that sweet?' And then it turns into something else and it's controlling. They don't recognize that until it's too late. So it's an ongoing education that you have to give young girls, I think.
McBride has also teamed up with Loveisrespect, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, working with them on a new program called, "My Time to Shine".
McBride appeared on the Stand Up 2 Cancer Telethon in September 2010, where she performed "Unchained Melody" with Leona Lewis, Aaron Neville, and Stevie Wonder. Also in 2010, she hosted the YWCA for the 16th consecutive year, raising over $50,000. It totals over $500,000 raised so far.
McBride also has a charity initiative called "Team Music is Love". Speaking about Team Music Is Love, McBride stated "It started a few years ago as a group of fans that asked me if they could wear a T-shirt with my name to walk in a breast cancer walk, and I said 'of course' and it has grown from there. Last year, we decided we wanted to give it a better name, a name that sounded as important as it is, so we changed it to 'Team Music is Love,' since it's about spreading love through music. We have done some amazing things over the past few years and we continue to grow and keep giving back."

Grammy Awards

Note: In 1995, McBride was one of the various artists featured on the album Amazing Grace – A Country Salute to Gospel (singing "How Great Thou Art"), which won the Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album. This award went to the compilation album's producer Bill Hearn, and not to the artists.