Miranda Lambert Explains Difficult Decision to Cancel Shows Due to Illness

Earlier this month, Miranda Lambert made the difficult decision to cancel two shows in Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, after she became ill and couldn’t recover from her sickness in time to perform. Lambert is now opening up about that decision, admitting that while she didn’t have a choice, it was still hard for her to not perform for a show.

“I recently had to cancel a few shows, which is rare and absolutely breaks my heart,” Lambert told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “When your voice goes, there is no backup. It just stops the train from rolling. I take pretty good care of myself, especially while on tour, because a lot rides on being healthy. Sometimes the crowd brings [me] to another level when they are having fun. The more energy they have, the more we have, and it creates a really great room.”

The Texas native admits she would rather give a show fans will never forget, than perform when she isn’t able to give it her all.

“If I can’t be great, I would rather wait and come back when I can be,” Lambert acknowledged. “People spend hard-earned money to come see us play, and I owe it to everyone — including my band, crew and myself — to show up and be 100 percent. Not every night is perfect. And those shows where I don’t feel like I delivered properly really push me to try harder. The good news is we play a lot, so there is always room for improvement.”

Lambert recently performed with her alma mater’s high school choir while in Dallas, Texas, a performance that was all the more meaningful since Lambert and her mother, Beverly, started the choir while Lambert was still a student.

“The choir didn’t exist when I was a freshman, it was all about football and band, because it’s Texas,” Lambert recalled. “I didn’t make cheerleader my sophomore year and I knew I could sing a little and was interested in it, and I kind of petitioned to get a choir. So we did, my sophomore year of high school and 65 kids signed up and we ended up winning State.”

Lambert will continue her Wildcard Tour this week with her rescheduled show in Salt Lake City, as well as a stop in San Jose, California. She is joined on the road by Cody Johnson and LANCO. Find dates at MirandaLambert.com.

Photo Credit: Getty / Kevin Winter