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Pick up a glass of whiskey for Miranda Lambert. The country’s superstar reached number 1 on country radio for the first time in six years this week with her new song “Bluebird,” according to the Mediabase charts. It is expected to follow the Billboard Country Airplay chart, which it has not exceeded in eight years. Lambert’s last Mediabase No. 1 was “Automatic” from her 2014 album Platinum; her last on the Billboard playlist was “Over You” from 2012 Four the record. (“Somethin ‘Bad”, her duet with Carrie Underwood, reached number 1 on Country Songs, but not Airplay.) “I am celebrating happiness and the feeling of artistic freedom at a time when we all feel a little caged.” Lambert wrote on Twitter. “I am celebrating country music and all the joy it has brought to my life. I am celebrating ALL the fans, the writers, the musicians, the teams and the bands, the radio and broadcast services, places big and small for allowing me to have the most wonderful career of the last 17 years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. “
The rise of “Bluebird” makes Lambert the sixth woman to reach No. 1 on country radio in 2020, the first year that more than five different women have ranked No. 1 on country radio since 2010. Lady A (formerly Antebellum), Maren Morris, Gabby Barrett, Gwen Stefani and Carly Pearce have also registered No. 1 in the first seven months of this year. That is more than double the number of radio stations in the number 1 country for women than in 2019, musicologist Dr. Jada E. Watson said on Twitter. She added: “Although there has been an increase in turns for women’s songs, there are not enough women’s songs that receive the necessary support to enter the charts,” noting that there are only two other women in the first 30 places in the list. The news comes after years of criticism for the lack of support for women on the country’s radio, spurred by recent studies, including one with the Nashville WOMAN and another by Dr. Stacy L. Smith through the Inclusion Initiative. Annenberg from USC. The Highwomen supergroup was formed in 2019 to combat the marginalization of women on country radio, and appropriately, Highwomen member Natalie Hemby shares Lambert’s new # 1 for “Bluebird” as a cowriter.
