Whatever Happened To Martina McBride?

Martina McBride is one of the few country stars who live surprisingly normal lives. Despite having sold millions of records worldwide, garnering 14 Grammy Award nominations, becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and earning a star on the Nashville Walk of Fame, McBride considers herself to be a very normal person. The singer cooks for her family, spends time with her kids, and works in her garden. While she could be rubbing shoulders with the elite whenever she wants, McBride opts for more humble activities when she can.

While McBride's commitment to a low-key lifestyle is admirable, it has also led some fans to wonder what has happened to her. Aside from clocking Martina McBride's bold outfit at the ACM Awards in 2021, lots of the singer's supporters have lost touch with her. Since her busiest years in the spotlight in the early 2000s, McBride's career hasn't been quite as electric, but she's still been booked and busy. Here's what happened to Martina McBride.

In 2005, Martina McBride came down from the peak of her career. While she still remained a force in country music, her star power wasn't quite as prominent. The transition was thanks in part to McBride's decision to record and release the album "Timeless," a group of country covers, rather than create an album of either all or mostly original works. "I really wasn't interested in making these songs my own. I wanted to do them to pay tribute to the original artists and writers and musicians," McBride said in an interview for "Today."

Although it didn't feature original songs, "Timeless" was a dream for fans of McBride who were also longtime country music lovers. The album featured tunes like "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden," among other classic hits. And McBride had the support of her label. "I went to Joe Galante at the record label (RCA Records) and said 'I have kind of a crazy idea, but I really want to do a whole album of classic country songs.' And without really hesitating he said, 'Then I think that's what you should do,'" McBride shared, adding that she didn't want to wait years and years to complete the project. The singer did hint that she worried whether the album would be commercially successful, but she seemed comfortable with the risk. Despite any worries, the album sold well, achieving a platinum certification a couple of months after its release.

To cap off what was, overall, a very successful decade for Martina McBride, the country superstar released her 10th studio album, "Shine," in 2009. "Shine" was different for McBride than records past for a variety of reasons, including the creative side. While the singer had become accustomed to producing her records herself, she teamed up with a producer for "Shine" and relinquished some control. "I just felt like this was the right time to take that step. After making two albums by myself, self-producing, I felt like it was the time to have him do the job, and I felt like it would bring a fresh perspective," McBride said to The Boot of the decision.

In some ways, though, "Shine" was no different than McBride's past albums. The record sold well, and it became her fourth number one album on the country album charts, an achievement McBride was grateful for. "I never expect anything. You never know what's going to happen. You do the best you can, put it out there and it's out of your hands at that point. I can never really assume anything, so I was just waiting on pins and needles and very happy that we accomplished that," she said. While "Shine" did sell well, the singles didn't garner quite as much traction as some of her previous work, and no track from the album was ever considered one of McBride's best songs of all time.

The early 2010s brought about some major change for Martina McBride in her professional life. While the popular artist had been with RCA Records since 1991, she made a huge shift in 2010 by signing with Republic Nashville. "I've had an amazing career. I've been fortunate enough and blessed enough to sell a lot of records and get to see the world and these great 50 states we have and just have an amazing life. I had a great 18-year partnership with RCA and [former RCA label head] Joe Galante, and we had a wonderful run. When this opportunity came up to work with Jimmy and Scott, it just felt right," McBride said of the decision at a press conference, as reported by CMT. McBride got right to work with Republic Nashville, writing and recording her 11th studio album, "Eleven," with the label.

In 2014, McBride released her 12th studio album, "Everlasting," under her own label with support from Kobalt Music Services, a decision she seemed pleased with. "It was a good feeling because it was a passion project for me, and it was different. There was no single to drive the sales, so none of us knew what would happen with it," McBride said to Rolling Stone. 2014 brought about yet another label change for McBride. Although she had been successful with Republic Nashville, the singer signed on with Nash Icon, an imprint underneath Big Machine Records, which has worked with artists like Tim McGraw, the stunning Dolly Parton, and Taylor Swift.

Martina McBride has headlined multiple tours throughout her career, including her "Emotions Tour" and her "Greatest Hits Tour." And detours in her career, like releasing an album of covers or not collecting another single for her all-time best compilation, never deterred the famed artist from bringing her music to her fans. In 2006, McBride went on the "Timeless" tour. From 2007 to 2008, she was on the "Waking Up Laughing Tour." McBride's "One Night Tour" lasted from 2011 to 2012, even garnering an extension due to its popularity, and she went on the "Everlasting Tour" from 2014 to 2015.

Despite having gone on several tours in the past, it seems that McBride has yet to lose her love for putting on live performances. She proved this by traveling the country again to perform for her fans on her "Love Unleashed Tour" in 2016 and 2017. Although McBride's venture wasn't quite as major as some other country music tours happening at the time, the "Love Unleashed Tour" was a success. The artist traveled with Hallmark star Lauren Alaina as the opening act, and the tour was extended. "What makes the second leg of this tour even more special is that we are partnering with CMT in their movement to support women in country music. I have championed women in many ways through my music and charitable endeavors over the years and this movement really speaks to me," McBride said on her website. "When one of us succeeds it's a win for all of us, and when we, as women, support each other we are so much stronger."

Martina McBride clearly likes to create. In the 2010s, when she wasn't making music, the artist was creating food. In 2014, McBride released her first cookbook, "Around the Table." The cookbook was a guide for hosting great parties and, in addition to recipes, it included party playlists, a schedule to follow when throwing a party, as well as other tips. "If I weren't a performer, I think I would love to be a party planner," McBride told Nashville Scene when promoting her cookbook.

McBride didn't stay out of the cookbook game for too long. In 2018, she released another called "Martina's Kitchen Mix: My Recipe Playlist for Real Life." The book featured a variety of recipes. "A lot of recipes in here are things I have been making for family and friends for years," McBride told People, noting that it also reflected her own diet at that time. "The book shows the way I've grown as a cook and includes more vegetables, fish and healthier things," she said. The artist also likened releasing her cookbook to releasing music. "Sharing recipes is kind of like sharing a new album. You have songs that you're really excited about and you want to share with the world, and I feel the same way about my recipe," she said. The release of McBride's second cookbook coincided with the premiere of her Food Network show, "Martina's Table." The series lasted for eight episodes in late 2018.

Reality competition series fans might be familiar with at least one of Martina McBride's projects from the past several years. In 2018, the country star lent her talent, expertise, and years of experience to "America's Got Talent" as a guest judge. While on the episode (via YouTube), McBride — who sat next to judges Howie Mandel, the stunning Heidi Klum, and Mel B — hit her Golden Buzzer in favor of a dancing duo called Quin and Misha. The singer was especially inspired by Quin's message that age shouldn't dictate which dreams performers follow. "You say you want to inspire people of a certain age, but you inspired everybody, of all ages. It was truly a remarkable performance," McBride told the dancers.

In an interview with Billboard, McBride opened up more about the gig, sharing that she might've auditioned for a show like "America's Got Talent" when she was first starting her career had there been the opportunity. McBride had wisdom to share with the show's contestants, too. "My advice is to do the work. Make sure you are prepared and believe in yourself and enjoy it. Because at the end of the day if you're not enjoying it, what's the point, right?" she said. The episode of "America's Got Talent" wasn't McBride's first time as a guest judge, either. The singer had appeared on the show once before, in 2007, and she also served as a guest judge on a couple of episodes of "American Idol" previously.

2019 brought about a new creative challenge for Martina McBride. After proving for decades that she could sing, the artist wanted to prove that she could talk, too. The singer launched a podcast called "Vocal Point with Martina McBride." "I wanted to do a podcast that's not really an interview as much as it is a conversation. It's going to be a mixture of country music artists and artists from other genres. We're going to do some celebrity chefs, some actors; a mixture of people," McBride told Billboard of her venture. "I hope it's entertaining for the listeners and also that it gives a little bit of insight into the person that I'm interviewing. We talked about their life philosophy, their struggles and how they've overcome them. A lot of it has been so inspiring as well as entertaining."

McBride got off to a good start by inviting guests like Lauren Alaina, whom McBride had toured with previously, and Brenda Lee, the voice behind the iconic Christmas tune "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." Unfortunately, though, "Vocal Point" doesn't seem to have taken off. McBride ended the first season of her podcast in April 2020. At the time of writing, it appears that she never recorded another episode. Additionally, McBride worked with Luminary to release her podcast, and the company doesn't appear to house any "Vocal Point" episodes at the time of writing.

Every artist has a different relationship with their body of work. Some artists, like Kanye West, have spent lots of time and lots of money trying to acquire the rights to their own masters. Other artists, like Justin Bieber, have sold their masters for a huge payday. Then there's Taylor Swift, an artist who re-recorded her old albums in an effort to reclaim her masters after they were sold. In 2022, Martina McBride made a major decision concerning her masters, joining the likes of Bieber and other artists.

McBride sold her masters to Primary Wave Music, a music publishing company that seemed excited to get ahold of her work. "It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with Martina and the catalog of incredible songs she has built throughout her career," a Primary Wave Music executive said of the deal, as reported by Music Row. "She has been a powerful voice in the country genre with songs that that [sic] touch fans across all music genres." While the amount that McBride received for the acquisition wasn't publicly disclosed, given her reputation as a legacy artist and proof of sales over her career, the singer likely fared well in the transaction and could've become one of the richest country singers in the process. However, the singer didn't hand over complete ownership — she retained a 20% stake in her masters. McBride, though, never commented publicly on the sale.

Since the "Love Unleashed Tour," Martina McBride has had small tours where she's performed her country music, but the bulk of her touring since then has been during the holiday season. For 13 years in a row, McBride went on "The Joy of Christmas Tour," including the 13th annual rendition of the event in 2023. The artist went to select cities across the United States in November and December to sing holiday tunes. And she had plenty of options to choose from. In 2013, McBride released "The Classic Christmas Album," and in 2018, she released "It's the Holiday Season," giving her even more songs to play from 2018 on.

Pulling from both of her Christmas albums made the latter half of McBride's holiday tours especially unique as the two records had very different sounds. "['It's the Holiday Season'] is kind of a big band swing Christmas album, kind of a vintage-y throwback sound. It's very different than anything I've done before," McBride said to Billboard while promoting her 2018 holiday album. "I did a Christmas album a really long time ago but it was more orchestral, like a classic-sounding Dean Martin record. This is more pop and big band and has big hymns. It's really fun. I never thought I would record 'Frosty The Snowman' but we did it in such a cool way that it's a lot of fun," she said.

Martina McBride certainly knows how to keep herself busy. Although she hasn't released new music in a while as of the time of writing, the singer has still been hard at work. At the end of 2024, McBride was busy with multiple projects, including releasing her own wine, Luna and Finn. "Made in the centuries-old Provence style of hand-crafted rosé, Luna & Finn is the perfect wine for a glass at the end of the day," McBride said on X, formerly Twitter, to promote the drink's release. McBride is also an oenophile who collects bottles from other brands, and she had about 600 in her cellar at one point. "We don't drink wine for prestige, we drink it because we genuinely enjoy it and because we have found some that really match our tastes," McBride told Wine Spectator of her drinking habits.

In 2024, McBride's other major project was the reality competition series "Second Chance Stage." The series was executive-produced by Chip and Jaanna Gaines and released on Max. It featured McBride, Heidi Gardner, and Taye Diggs as judges of contestants who wanted to take another crack at following their dreams. "It's such a positive and uplifting show. Just being able to hear everybody's story and experience that was so special," McBride told Country Living of the series.