At 17 years old, Miranda Lambert formed the Texas Pride Band and began gigging professionally, and in 2001, she showcased her songwriting skills by releasing an independent CD, Miranda Lambert. Two of the album’s tracks, “Texas Pride” and “Somebody Else,” entered the Texas music charts. In 2003, Lambert successfully auditioned for Nashville Star. She finished third in the competition, which led to a recording contract with Sony. Still only 21 years old, she released her first major-label single, “Me and Charlie Talking,” in 2004, with the full-length Kerosene following in 2005. Lambert wrote or co-wrote ten of the album’s 11 tracks. Kerosene eventually went platinum. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend experienced similar success upon its release in 2007. Moreover, it established Lambert as one of country’s newest “bad girls,” a designation that nodded to the fiery temperament of her music. For 2009’s award-winning Revolution, however, she branched out into other subjects, drawing upon a happy relationship with fellow country star Blake Shelton. Like the two albums before it, Revolution went platinum. Lambert wrote or co-wrote six of the 14 tracks on her next outing, Four the Record, which appeared in the fall of 2011. More recently, she dropped The Weight of These Wings in 2016. Miranda Lambert continues to churn out hits and tour the world.