Best Known As:

Gist:  Martina McBride (born July 29, 1966, in Medicine Lodge, Kansas), is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is best-known for her Inspirational-styled ballads about women and children.

McBride has been called the, "Céline Dion of Country Music," for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range.

McBride was signed to RCA Records, in 1991, and made her debut the following year as a Neo-Tradionalist country singer with the single, "The Time Has Come." It was not until 1997, when she released her fourth album, Evolution, that she broke through into the country music industry with a new Pop-styled crossover sound, similar to that of Faith Hill and Shania Twain. From that point on, McBride has had a string of major hit singles on the Billboard country chart and occasionally on the adult contemporary chart. Five of these singles went to #1 on the country chart between 1995 and 2001, and one peaked at #1 on adult contemporary chart in 2003.

McBride has recorded a total of nine studio albums, one "greatest hits" compilation, one "live" album, a "Christmas" compilation, as well as two additional compilation albums. Seven of her studio albums and two of her compilations have received an RIAA certification of "Gold," or higher. Worldwide, she has sold over 16 million albums. In addition, Martina has won the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award four times (tied with Reba McEntire for the most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award three times.

Life Facts:  McBride was born Martina Mariea Schiff in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, in 1966. She was raised in nearby Sharon, Kansas, a small town that consisted of about 200 people. Her father, who was a farmer and cabinetry shop owner, exposed McBride to country music at a young age. Listening to country music helped acquire love for singing. After school, she would spend hours singing along to the records of popular artists like Pat Benatar, Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt.

Around age 8 or 9, McBride began singing with a band her father fronted called, "The Schiffters." As Schiff grew older her role in the band progressively increased, from simply singing, to also playing keyboard with them. Although she enjoyed performing, Schiff never thought about taking it on as a full-time profession.

At the end of high school, Schiff was offered a scholarship to a local college, but she only attended it for one semester. She realized her passions lay in music and she began performing with local rock bands, including the Penetrators and Private Parts throughout her home area. In 1987, Schiff arranged a group of musicians and started to look for rehearsal space. She began renting space by studio engineer, John McBride, whom Schiff met and became engaged to four months later.

After marrying McBride, they moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1989, in the hope of beginning a career in country music. John McBride joined the sound crew of country superstar, Garth Brooks, and would later become his concert production manager. Martina would occasionally join her husband on the road and would help sell Garth Brooks souvenir t-shirts. Brooks, who was impressed by McBride's enthusiastic spirit, offered her the position of his opening act on his 1992 tour, though only if 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 a demo tape, which helped her gain a recording contract with RCA Nashville Records, in 1991.

In 1997, McBride released fourth album, Evolution, which became her first Top 10 country album, reaching #4 on the Top Country Albums chart. The third single spawned from the album, "Valentine," a duet with Jim Brickman, produced by pop producer Dan Shea, was not just a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Country Chart, but also went to #3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart, giving her one of her first major hits on Adult Contemporary radio. From the album, McBride had two singles that reached #2 on the country charts, "Happy Girl" and "Whatever You Say," as well as two #1 singles, "A Broken Wing" and "Wrong Again." The album was McBride's breakthrough into the country music industry, after acquiring 5 Top 10 hits from it.

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 and also performed for President Bill Clinton during the same time. In 1998 she also issued a Christmas album, White Christmas, which was later reissued.

Her fifth studio album, Emotion, was released in 1999. Its lead single, "I Love You," reached #1 on the Billboard Country Chart in 1999, and also crossed over to the Adult Contemporary chart. The song's three follow-ups, "Love's the Only House," "There You Are," and "It's My Time" were also successful country hits that made the Top 10. In 2001, she released her first compilation, Greatest Hits, which featured four new songs. It was her first album to reach #1 on the Top Country Albums chart, and eventually sold enough copies for it to peak at #5 on the Billboard 200. The four new songs were all released as singles, beginning with "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues," followed by "Blessed," (which reached #1), "Where Would You Be," and "Concrete Angel," all of which reached the Country Top 10 between 2001 and 2002.

To date, the album has been certified 3× Multi-Platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, and is her highest-selling album.

In 2003, McBride released her sixth studio album, Martina, which celebrated womanhood.

The first single, "This One's for the Girls," went to #3 on the Billboard Country Chart and also went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The second single, "In My Daughter's Eyes," reached #3 as well on the country chart and reached the Top 5 on the Adult Contemporary chart. These first two were McBride's first Top 10 solo hits on the Adult Contemporary chart, giving her a larger audience that included Pop music listeners. Two additional singles followed in 2004 that reached the Top 20 on the country chart.

Also in 2003, McBride presented the second, Joy of Christmas Tour, and began to plan it as an annual event. That year she was also featured on an episode of Country Music Television's Crossroads show with her idol from childhood, Pat Benatar. Together they sang Benatar's "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" and McBride's "Independence Day."

McBride has been married to her husband, sound engineer John McBride, since May 15, 1988. The couple have three daughters: Delaney Katharine (b. 22 December 1994), Emma Justine (b. 29 March 1998), and Ava Rose Kathleen (b. 20 June 2005). Her father's name is Darryl and her mother's name is Jeanne. She has two brothers, Martin and Steve and a sister, Gina.

At the age of 42, McBride appeared in a bikini on the cover of Shape Magazine, along with 26 year old LeAnn Rimes and 20 year old Julianne Hough.