Country star Miranda Lambert has inked a deal with Republic Records, with the first single under the new contract, “Wranglers,” set to come out May 3, and her tenth solo album to follow later this year.
Although she’s signed to the pop label for future recordings, the deal involves a partnership with another label under the Universal Music umbrella, Big Loud, handling country radio promotion and marketing.
Republic, the home of pop superstars including Taylor Swift and Drake, has not directly signed many country artists; the others on the label’s roster are Shania Twain and Lily Rose. But that doesn’t mean the label doesn’t already have its hand in its country market in a huge way, via a partnership with Big Loud that involves joint promotion for Morgan Wallen, the biggest artist in the genre for the last few years.
“Music is and always will be the thing that drives me, but having a new home has given me a hunger I didn’t realize I still had inside me,” Lambert said in a statement, noting that “Wranglers” “feels like it could be on the same record as ‘Gunpowder & Lead’ [her first top 10 country hit, in 2008]; it has that same fury. I can’t wait to get out there with this new label and this new music. Monte Lipman and his team fire me up. … Talking to Monte, Avery Lipman and the team at Republic, as well as Seth and the Big Loud folks who are leaning in, everyone understood my desires and vision for this next era of my music. Aligning like that is empowering; it gives you a license to really chase it. Signing with Republic has inspired me to find the sweet spot for me and all the people like me. I can’t wait for everyone to hear ‘Wranglers,’ and the rest of this record.”
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Lambert’s announcement early Tuesday solved a riddle that began when she revealed to the world 13 months ago that she was leaving Sony Nashville, the label home she’d had for her entire 20-year career, Sony Nashville, to become a free agent. Lambert said in a statement in March 2023 that she “wouldn’t be true to myself if I wasn’t constantly looking for the next challenge and a new way to stretch my creativity. With that in mind, I’ve decided to say goodbye to my Sony family. I can’t wait to see what the next adventure holds.”
Fans knew that something was up — and an idea of where she was headed — on Monday when Lambert issued a 12-second quick-cut video montage of past hits with the message “Warning: Hell hath no furty like a woman scorned,”along with a phone number to text for future updates. The number led to a sign-up page with a telltale Universal Music Group tag, although that still left a lot of wiggle room for which UMG imprint was landing Lambert… or imprints, plural, now that she has two sharing the load.
Pictured in the signing announcement photo above are Republic’S EVP and CFO Joe Schmidt, founder and vice chairman Avery Lipman, president and COO Jim Roppo, Lambert, founder and chairman Monte Lipman and, from the Big Loud side, that label’s CEO, Seth England.
Lambert will be headlining the Stagecoach Festival in the California desert on Saturday night, in a show being livestreamed over Prime Video. With “Wranglers” not set to be released until the following Friday, it remains to be seen whether the singer might premiere new music at the festival gig for the live and streaming audiences or hold it in reserve for the official release date.
Lambert’s final album with Sony was “Palomino,” released two years ago this month. During her tenure with that company, she had No. 1 hits with “The House That Built Me,” “Heart Like MIne,” “Over You,” “Somethin’ Bad” and “Bluebird.” She’s also appeared as the featured artist on No. 1 country singles by Keith Urban, Jason Aldean and Elle King. She achieved one of the genre’s highest honors when she was given the entertainer of the year award at the ACM Awards in 2022.
In respective statements, Republic founder-chairman Monte Lipman spoke to their new signee’s strength as “both a consummate storyteller and legendary performer,” while the label’s president-COO, Jim Roppo, enthused about being “at the beginning of a very special moment” as Lambert “puts the final touches onherfantastic newbody of work… We’re grateful to be on this journey with her.”
That Big Loud Records would be involved somehow in Lambert’s career was already established. Last fall she and her frequent collaborator Jon Randall announced a partnership with Big Loud to launch a new imprint, BIg Loud Texas, through which the two singer-songwriters will directly sign and develop talent.
After Stagecoach, Lambert has other country festivals and individual dates booked through the end of September. Earlier this month, she wrapped up her “Velvet Rodeo” residency at Planet Hollywood, which spanned 48 shows that took place over the last 18 months.
During the period between leaving Sony and announcing her Republic deal, Lambert had released one independent single on her own Vanner imprint, a duet with Leon Bridges titled “If You Were MIne,” last July. She also released a cooking/lifestyle book, “Y’All Eat Yet?: Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin Kitchen,” which debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times bestseller list.
