Miranda Lambert opens up about the misery and songwriting surge following her divorce from Blake Shelton

Country superstar Miranda Lambert has made a rare public comment about the heavy emotional toll she experienced following her high-profile 2015 divorce from Blake Shelton, describing the aftermath of their separation as a deeply painful period.

The country music artist spoke candidly about the end of her four-year marriage during an appearance on songwriter Ross Golan’s And The Writer Is… podcast. Reflecting on the split after more than a decade, the singer acknowledged that going through a divorce is difficult for anyone, but the added scrutiny made it uniquely challenging. She noted that navigating the breakup while both individuals maintained prominent, public-facing careers on tour amplified the difficulty of the situation.

The former couple originally met during an onstage duet at a CMT concert in 2005. After a decade together, they married before ultimately announcing their separation in a joint statement in 2015, asking for privacy and compassion from the public. Following the split, Miranda Lambert relocated back to Nashville full-time after previously living with Blake Shelton in his hometown of Oklahoma.

Rather than shying away from the personal upheaval, Miranda Lambert used the difficult transition as creative fuel for her music. She explained that she dove headfirst into songwriting upon returning to Nashville, gathering her friends and fellow songwriters to process her emotions. She estimated that she penned approximately 75 songs within roughly a year, with a massive portion written in the first four months alone.

This intense writing period formed the foundation of her sixth studio album, The Weight of These Wings. The country star described the creative process as a distinct departure from her previous work on the album Platinum. Instead of writing toward a specific commercial sound or feisty persona, she spent her downtime with a guitar in hand, a habit that ultimately helped her grow both as a vocalist and a songwriter.

While the singer characterized the post-divorce period as a distinctly unhappy time, she also viewed the creative outcome as a valuable artistic turning point. She noted that laying her real life and vulnerability out into her music was ultimately worth the experience, allowing her to tell her personal truth through her craft. Both artists have since moved on to new chapters in their personal lives. Miranda Lambert married Brendan McLoughlin in 2019, while Blake Shelton married Gwen Stefani in July 2021.

The candid remarks offer fans a rare retrospective look at how one of country music's most celebrated songwriters processed a major life transition, turning personal misery into a defining body of critically acclaimed work.