When Martina McBride (Martina Schiff at the time) was just 20 years old, she was performing with a band that wasn't going anywhere. She grew up in Sharon, Kansas performing with her family band, The Schiffters, and was ready for her big break with rock and roll band, The Penetrators. While that gig wasn't successful, it did lead her to future husband John McBride, a Wichita sound engineer and the nice guy who her band rented rehearsal space from.
John ended up being a shoulder to cry on when her passion for music wasn't getting her where she wanted to go in her current set up.
"Here I was, crying on his shoulder about my band not coming together, and I thought, 'I'm in love with this guy. This is crazy. He lives in a warehouse.'" McBride told People of her future husband.
The happy couple was married in 1988 and decided to make the big move from their home in Kansas to Nashville, Tennessee. John's sound skills helped him get a job on the road with Garth Brooks' sound crew a few years later. Since he's a family man, he got his wife to come on tour with him by helping her secure a job selling Garth's t-shirts.
John was his wife's advocate and managed to help land her a recording contract with RCA Records the following year by passing along her demo to one of their executives. Her debut album, The Time Has Come made the top 25 on the country music charts. Her second album, The Way That I Am earned her two top 10 singles with "My Baby Loves Me" and "Life No. 9."
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Things came full circle for the country singer when the success of her new career allowed her to go back on the road with Garth Brooks — this time as his opening act. Her voice is timeless and has incredible range. She even landed the nickname "Celine Dion of Country Music."
McBride has been awarded the Country Music Association Award for Female Vocalist of the Year (and numerous other CMA Awards) and has been nominated for 14 Grammy Awards for hit songs like "Independence Day," "This One's for the Girls," and "Concrete Angel" which raised awareness for domestic violence. The country star has released 14 studio albums so far including Wild Angels and Evolution, and John has been there along the ride for all of it.
Over the years, the couple as welcomed three daughters — Delaney Katharine, Emma Justine and Ava Rose Kathleen. The family looks very close and frequently makes appearances on McBride's Instagram. It's clear that the couple is best friends as well as partners in marriage.
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