Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert – country music brought them together and for a time it sustained them. But in the end, even something that powerful couldn’t hold them together.
How Did Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert Meet?
Though they had made one another’s acquaintance on multiple occasions, Shelton and Lambert’s first substantial interaction took place in September 2005, when they were chosen to perform You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma during the televised special, CMT 100 Greatest Duets.
Their chemistry was electric and undeniable. For Shelton, it was love at first sight – despite the fact that he was already spoken for. He would later tell VH1, “I’ve never had that kind of experience with anybody. I was a married guy, you know? Looking back on that, I was falling in love with her, right there on stage.”
“I knew he was married,” Lambert would admit to Dateline years later. “I had seen their wedding pictures in Country Weekly. I knew better, like, ‘this is off-limits.’ My parents are private investigators, for God’s sake. I’ve seen this my whole life—affairs, and of all people to know better, I know better than this.”
Officially, the two did not start dating until at least February of 2006 – the same month and year that Shelton’s three-year union with Kaynette Williams was dissolved. In April 2007, Shelton and Lambert appeared together on the 2007 CMT Music Awards’ red carpet.
But when asked for confirmation of their coupledom, Shelton demurred, “It depends on what day you ask. Miranda and I have a very interesting relationship. She can get so mad at me that she just wants to punch me in the face, and we’ll say that’s it. Then, 30 minutes later, we’re calling each other and acting like it never happened.
“But I think she’s somebody that I’m going to have in my life a long time. She’s one of those few people you meet and have a connection with and you don’t really fully understand it, but you know it’s a pretty big deal.”
Early Days
Shelton and Lambert’s first few years of courtship were tumultuous. Their ascending careers forced them into a mostly long-distance relationship. In a joint interview with CMT News, Lambert explained.
“We’ve been through a lot of crap together—a lot of crap—and I think that in the beginning, being apart all the time and going through some really hard times just kind of…” she paused. “I’m glad we got over that hump because we really just get along great.”
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“There were times early on there that – I know that she did and I know I did – we were just ready to give up on it and walk away from it because there’s nothing easy about having a relationship doing what we do. But we just decided that as miserable as we are together, it’s way more miserable when we’re apart,” added Shelton
Collaboration
In October of 2008, the couple fixed that problem when they embarked on a joint performance tour. Afterward, Lambert duetted with Shelton on his 2008 album Startin’ Fires and he in turn sang and authored a number of songs on her 2009 album Revolution.
Getting Hitched
On May 9, 2010, Shelton proposed to Lambert – after securing her father’s blessing. The ceremony followed a year later on May 14, 2011. It was held at Don Strange Ranch in the bride’s home state of Texas.
Reba McEntire, Dierks Bentley, Kelly Clarkson, Katherine Heigl, and Hillary Scott were among the 500 or so guests who bore witness to the union and then dined on venison – which the newly minted Mr. and Mrs. had hunted down themselves. The groom serenaded his lady with an original composition.
Public Scrutiny
Over the next few years, the duo worked hard to balance their comments to one another and their respective careers – but trouble was brewing. The tabloids seemed to scrutinize them all the more post-nuptials and though they tried their damndest, Shelton and Lambert began to break under the pressure.
In May 2014, Lambert explained to Billboard that within the last two years, the press had accused her of having “like five sets of twins” and insinuated that “we’ve been divorced four times and one of us had a $100 million divorce.”
Hoping to quell the rumors, Shelton and Lambert frequently took to social media to poke fun at the more outrageous claims but in the end, they finally adopted both “no joint interview” as well as a “publicity only when necessary” policies.
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert – The End
On July 20, 2015, Shelton and Lambert filed for divorce. A joint statement said, “This is not the future we envisioned, and it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately.”
Though no official reason was given for the split, gossip began in earnest. In 2016, Shelton told Billboard, “You can learn some facts of my divorce [from my music]. Maybe not specifics, but you can get a general idea about it.”
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