Martina McBride (born Martina Schiff) was born July 29, 1966, in Sharon, Kan., and grew up on a farm singing country music from the moment she could tiptoe up to a mike. Before launching her own career on RCA Records, McBride learned about life on the road by selling T-shirts at Garth Brooks concerts.

Her first album, 1992's The Time Has Come, stumbled, but the 1993 follow-up The Way That I Am introduced her to the country audience with the upbeat single and video "My Baby Loves Me." Another single from that album, "Independence Day," failed to crack the Top 10. However, by singing about spousal abuse without coming off as preachy, the song has since become McBride's signature song. The video earned a CMA award in 1994, and McBride has rarely released a single since then without an accompanying video.

The title track from 1995's Wild Angels became her first No. 1 hit, and she joined the Grand Ole Opry that same year. She continued to rack up hits -- including "A Broken Wing," "Happy Girl," "Wrong Again," "Whatever You Say, "I Love You" and "Love's the Only House" -- and captured her first CMA female vocalist award in 1999.

She took her second CMA female vocalist trophy in 2002, on the strength of her Greatest Hits package, with the new successes "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues," "Blessed," "Where Would You Be" and "Concrete Angel." A studio album, Martina, followed in 2003, along with her third female vocalist trophy from the CMA.

--CMT.com