Miranda Lambert Speaks out About the Lack of Women on Country Radio

Miranda Lambert is not happy with the state of female singers on country music radio. They aren’t getting enough air time.

“It’s B.S., straight up,” Lambert told Redbook in a new interview. She is stunned that even Carrie Underwood, arguably one of the biggest country music stars in the world, isn’t well represented on radio.

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“Carrie Underwood still struggles, and that just blows my mind because she’s got a million hits and she’s Carrie Freakin’ Underwood,” Lambert said. “I tell them at the radio stations, ‘Just play one of us; it doesn’t have to be me. Then we all win.’ I’ll fight for it until I can’t no more.”

Also in the interview, Lambert admitted that she’s not very good at being famous.

“I hate cameras. I don’t love the spotlight,” the singer said. “It was a big shocker to me that the music business is 80% business and 20% music. I was like, ‘I didn’t know I signed up for all this other stuff.’”

In August, Lambert dedicated her song “Tin Man” to “all the girls that are not being played on country radio right now,” adding, “If you really love us, you will call and request any female that has a song out and something to say.”

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In 2015, consultant Keith Hill told Country Air Check Weekly that it isn’t a good idea to play female country singers back-to-back.

“If you want to make ratings in Country radio, take females out,” Hill explained at the time. “The reason is mainstream Country radio generates more quarter hours from female listeners at the rate of 70 to 75%, and women like male artists. I’m basing that not only on music tests from over the years, but more than 300 client radio stations.” He even called female singers “the tomatoes of our salad.”

In response to those comments, Martina McBride sold “tomato lover” t-shirts.