Miranda Lambert has landed five straight No. 1 albums on the Billboard Country Album charts, and it's pretty much guaranteed that her new one, "Wildcard," released last week, will do the same. Since 2010, 12 of her singles have hit the Top 20 on the Billboard Country Music Singles chart, with four reaching No. 1.
But she's something of a rarity in country music.
Every No. 1 hit on the country charts so far in 2019 has been by a man. Of the 23 albums to hit No. 1 this year, three are by women: Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour," Maren Morris' "Girl" and The Highwomen's self-titled release.
It's a fairly common question in country music and has been for a while: Where are the women? Oh, they're out there; they're just not getting much airplay on the radio, although they're selling millions of albums and being loaded down with awards.
Truth is, male country singers have always outnumbered women by an enormous margin. The country music industry, run mostly by men, generally doesn't think female artists do well on the radio, unless they're on the arm of a guy in a song sung by a guy.
It's a shame, too, because some of the best songs, the ones with the most heart, the most depth, are being written and sung by women. Musgraves' "Keep It to Yourself" is a tender-yet-tough ballad. Sarah Shook's "Dwight Yoakam" is as good a drinkin' song as anything written by a guy. Morris, Ashley McBryde and Erin Rae write songs that can stand alongside anyone.
A couple of years ago, Morris wrote an essay about the reality of being a woman in a male-dominated industry: "You either have to sing about being scorned by a lover or sing about thinking a boy is cute and wanting him to notice you. That's about as edgy as you can get."
That's the way it was back in the 1980s and early '90s, when hit singers like Reba McEntire, Faith Hill and The Judds usually sang about love gone good or bad, life's regrets, sweet memories and getting strong through adversity. Today's female singer-songwriters branch out far beyond those subjects and address sexual and physical assault, mental health issues, drug problems, politics and other subjects not usually heard on country radio - and they're not.
Musgraves has won six Grammys, including 2019's Country Album of the Year for "Golden Hour," four Country Music Association Awards and four Academy of Country Music Awards. But she's had only one Top 10 hit on the Billboard Country charts, despite releasing 13 singles. Only one hit.
Somethin' ain't right here.
Shawn RyanContact Shawn Ryan at mshawnryan@gmail.com.