In some people’s opinion, the State Fair of West Virginia is saving the best for last.
That’s because Miranda Lambert, the most decorated artist in Academy of Country Music history–this is actually a fact– will close down the fair on the last Saturday, August 16.
Lambert has won 35 country music awards over her long career, including the Triple Crown Award in 2023 for Top New Female Vocalist, Top Female Vocalist, and Entertainer of the Year.
Lambert has grown an enormous following over the last 25 years, including my sister and several of her friends who have been to seven of her concerts and this August at the fair will make number eight.
Born November 10, 1983, in Lindale, Texas, Lambert is named after her great grandmother (Lucy Miranda) and was married to another country star, Blake Shelton, for four years and is now the wife of Brendan McLoughlin since 2019. In 2003, she finished in third place on the TV competition show Nashville Star which aired on the USA Network, but she garnered enough attention from her performances to make a splash on the big stage.
It has all led to Lambert releasing nine solo studio albums, four albums with her old group, the Pistol Annies, and a collaborative album with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall.
A couple years ago at her concert in Las Vegas, Lambert got agitated with some girl fans that were in the audience. While singing her hit song ‘Tin Man,’ Lambert stopped in the middle of the song and sort of yelled at some fans for taking selfies during her performance.
“I’m going to stop right here for a sec,” Lambert said in the captured video footage of the incident.
“These girls are worried about their selfie and not listening to the song and it’s pissing me off a little bit. I don’t like it – at all,” she said, adding, “We’re here to hear some country music tonight, I’m singing some country d*** music. Shall we start again?”
That moment divided some of her fans, but the issue is not as unusual as it may have seemed at the time. Several big name artists do not allow cellphones to be out during their concerts so the awkward Lambert scolding moment may have been a bigger media story than it should have been.
This year will be Lambert’s second time at the State Fair although a quick google search says it is her first time. However, way back in the day when I worked at Go Mart while attending school, Lambert’s tour bus stopped at the store after her performance at the fair. She was not as known then–It was either 2004 or 2005– but Lambert came inside Go Mart and asked where the skittles were. So, she has definitely been at the fair before. Sometimes the internet is wrong.
Fans will need to get their tickets because the closer it gets to August 16, the fewer that will be available.
Lambert’s top hits include:
White Liar, Kerosene, Gunpowder and Lead, House That Built Me, Mama’s Broken Heart, Crazy ex-girlfriend, and Famous in a Small Town.
