Martina McBride is the subject of a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, opening July 30 and highlighting a star who spent her career lifting women up.
Titled Martina McBride: The Power of Her Voice, the exhibit will stay open through next summer at the museum’s downtown Nashville campus.
Known as a vocal superstar with some of the strongest pipes in the business, McBride’s exhibit will track her rise from family-band member to the star behind powerful, oftentimes challenging hits. Those beloved songs topped charts starting in the early ’90s and included socially-aware standouts like “Independence Day” and “A Broken Wing,” which spoke to issues of domestic violence and female empowerment. And McBride went on to become the winner of four CMA Female Vocalist of the Year awards, plus three more from the ACM.
Items included in the display will range from childhood mementos and stage wear from her hit making days, to trophies and letters of support from icons like Dolly Parton — plus songwriter Gretchen Peters’ original handwritten manuscript for “Independence Day.”
The exhibit was initially planned to open in 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19.
“Postponing the exhibit opening last year due to the pandemic was a difficult decision but the right one,” said McBride. “It did, however, allow us more time to plan and dig through my archive to find several truly special artifacts. I’m excited to finally be able to let everyone see what we’ve created. Having an exhibit in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is something I’ve had on my dream list for a long, long time. Being able to share moments and mementos from my life and career with my fans and country music fans from all over the world is both humbling and exciting. I’m so grateful to be a part of country music.”
“Martina McBride has been creating powerful, socially conscious country music for more than 25 years,” said museum CEO Kyle Young. “Her anthems of personal empowerment have addressed the challenges women face and contributed a much-needed perspective to the genre. The empathy at the core of her music informs her life offstage, where she advocates for female artists.”
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, Martina McBride: The Power of Her Voice, opens July 30 and runs through through August 7, 2022. McBride will be featured on select dates of Blake Shelton’s upcoming Friends & Heroes 2021 Tour.