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Raised in a small town in Kansas, Martina Schiff (aka Martina McBride) decided she wanted to be a singer after joining her father's band The Schiffters at the age of nine. She subsequently joined various local rock bands, including The Penetrators and Private Parts, before marrying studio engineer John McBride and moving to the country music capital, Nashville. When her husband was on the road operating the sound for Garth Brooks, Martina often went with too selling merchandise, before stepping up to be opening act for Brooks, who also helped produce the demo which secured her first record deal with RCA. She released her debut album The Time Has Come in 1992, but it was the second album The Way That I Am which proved her breakthrough; it included the hit singles My Baby Loves Me, Life and Independence Day (a song about domestic abuse). Safe In The Arms Of Love became her first Number 1 in 1996 and further successes followed in the late 1990s/early 2000s as she moved in a more pop-orientated direction with the albums Emotion and Martina. Major sales continued with a covers album Timeless (2005) while Shine (2009) confirmed her as one of country's most popular crossover acts.
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