Martina McBride Biography

Martina McBride (born Martina Mariea Schiff, July 29, 1966 in Sharon, Kansas) is an American country music singer.

Martina Schiff grew up on a dairy farm outside of Sharon, Kansas, with her parents Daryl and Jeanne Schiff, her two brothers, Steve and Martin, and her sister Gina. She discovered country music through her father, who led a local band called the Schifters. The band rehearsed every week in the family’s house. When she was 7 and little brother Marty was 5, they joined the group. By her teen years, she was singing and playing keyboards with the Schifters playing small gigs at weddings, dances, VFW halls, and American Legion posts. Her mother Jeanne ran the soundboard. Her father Daryl led the band, played guitar and sang. Martina played keyboards and sang. Her brother Marty played guitar and steel. Martina played with the band every Saturday night until she graduated from high school. After high school she gigged around Kansas with several different bands. Her small-town upbringing was highlighted by her high school graduating class only having nine other students.

She was married May 15, 1988 to sound engineer John McBride. She and her husband then moved to Nashville in 1990 where they both took jobs touring with Garth Brooks (Martina sold T-shirts). Eventually she got a recording contract with RCA Records.

Martina McBride released her honky tonk-flavored debut album The Time Has Come in 1992. Her first big hit was the single "My Baby Loves Me" from her more pop-oriented second album, 1993's The Way That I Am. She became even more visible in 1994 with the crossover success of her anti-domestic violence anthem "Independence Day", also from this album.

In 2005 she released a 18-track CD of classic country music standards ("Timeless"), which landed at #1 on the Billboard Country Album Chart in its opening week and received much critical acclaim for its authenticity towards traditional country.

She is a four-time Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year winner (a record she holds with Reba McEntire), three-time Academy of Country Music Female Vocalist of the Year winner and a Grammy Award winner. She performed The Star-Spangled Banner at Game 3 of the 2004 World Series. She is also left-handed.

"Independence Day" is used as the introductory music for Sean Hannity's popular talk radio show. McBride has appeared at benefit events organized by Hannity, but has declined to take an active political stance. [1] McBride has performed free for fans, such as in a July 3, 2004 show in Owensboro, Kentucky to celebrate the grand opening of the new Independence Bank headquarters. [2]

McBride gained additional visibility during the 2005 season of American Idol, as eventual winner Carrie Underwood declared McBride to be her favorite singer, performing several of her hits in the competition and putting "Independence Day" on her first single. On August 21, 2006, she appeared as a guest coach on Canadian Idol, and announced on its finale of September 17 that the season winner, which turned out to be Eva Avila, was invited to join her on her Canadian tour in the spring of 2007.