Miranda Lambert Opens Up on ‘Miserable’ Blake Shelton Divorce and Writing 75 Songs to Cope

Miranda Lambert channeled pure emotional devastation into a relentless creative sprint following her 2015 split from Blake Shelton, writing roughly 75 songs in just four months after moving out of Oklahoma. The country powerhouse candidly acknowledged that navigating a high-profile breakup while headlining national tours was a grueling, miserable ordeal.

Speaking on songwriter Ross Golan’s And The Writer Is… podcast, the 42-year-old superstar reflected on the chaos of ending a four-year marriage under intense media scrutiny.

“I got divorced, and that sucks for anyone,” Lambert shared during the interview. “Especially in the public eye, especially on tour, especially in the middle of a very public career — two of us — you know what I mean? It just was a really not fun time.”

Turning Personal Heartbreak into Nashville Creative Fuel

Following the separation, Lambert packed up her life in Shelton’s hometown of Tishomingo, Oklahoma, and permanently relocated back to Nashville. Rather than retreating from music, she immersed herself directly into the songwriting community to process the fallout.

Blake Shelton with her arm around Miranda Lambert on red carpet in 2015

“When I moved back in 2015, I gathered up all of my friends and relationships from, you know, all of the previous years and just used it, used the misery,” Lambert explained. “I used the staying out too late at honky-tonks. I used what I was living and my friends went on that journey with me — friends being songwriters — and I think I wrote 75 songs in like, a year. I mean, in like, the first four months I moved back.”

That intense surge of songwriting formed the foundation of her acclaimed sixth studio record, The Weight of These Wings.

Miranda Lambert attends The 58th Annual CMA Awards at Music City Center on November 20, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee.

A Sharp Departure from Previous Records

The resulting double album marked a sharp stylistic shift from her earlier effort, Platinum, replacing calculated radio formats with unapologetic honesty.

“It was kind of magical, because I really started growing my songwriting then. It wasn’t writing towards a specific record or a sound or a feisty or whatever. It was, like, raw emotion.”

The demanding artistic process transformed her approach to performing and vocal arrangement during her downtime.

“And I think I really grew as a vocalist and a songwriter, because I spent so much of my downtime with a guitar in my hand for the first time, you know?… And it was worth it. It was worth laying it out there,” Lambert noted.

A Decade-Long History in the Public Spotlight

The duo initially crossed paths during an onstage duet at CMT’s 100 Greatest Duets Concert back in 2005, while Shelton was still married to his first wife, Kaynette Gern. They spent a full decade together, including four years as husband and wife, before abruptly ending their partnership in the summer of 2015.

Musicians Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton arrive for the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 18, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Their formal joint statement at the time appealed directly to fans for patience during an intensely emotional transition.

“This is not the future we envisioned, and it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, with real family, friends and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter.”

Both artists subsequently found new life partners and built entirely separate paths away from the glare of their split:

• Miranda Lambert tied the knot with Brendan McLoughlin in 2019.
• Blake Shelton married pop icon Gwen Stefani in July 2021.

Miranda Lambert and husband Brendan McLoughlin backstage

Comparing Perspectives on the Split

Both performers have stepped forward over the years to unpack how their sudden separation impacted their music and personal outlooks.

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton on the Grammys red carpet

During a 2016 album launch, Shelton addressed the universal grieving cycle that follows a public marriage ending, explaining that once anger fades, sadness takes over when wondering why things collapsed.

In a 2022 interview with CBS News, Lambert underscored that she relied on absolute authenticity as her coping mechanism: “I think you got to take it with a grain of salt and know that I’m a singer-songwriter, so luckily I can tell my whole truth. I will not lie in my music.”

💡 Did Miranda Lambert’s transparent storytelling on The Weight of These Wings redefine how modern country artists handle public vulnerability?

📊 Her four-month 75-song writing tear stands as one of the most prolific output phases in modern Nashville history.

🔍 Leave your thoughts below on how personal heartbreak shapes the most authentic country albums.

👇 Which track from Lambert’s post-divorce era resonated most deeply with your own journey?

Source: www.hellomagazine.com