She needed an outlet. Miranda Lambert revealed she made her 2016 album, The Weight Of These Wings, for her “sanity and songwriting ability” following her 2015 divorce from ex-husband Blake Shelton.

The 36-year-old country singer said she “needed to make The Weight of These Wings” during a discussion with Cindy Watts at CRS at Music City’s Omni Hotel on Wednesday, February 19. “It was dramatic. It was 24 songs and most of them were sad.” She noted that she was “a little bit exhausted of always keeping the sassy and headbanging,” and “tired” because of the turmoil she was experiencing. “I was going through something hard,” she added. “I wanted to be honest. I’ve always been honest.”

Miranda Lambert Reveals She Made 2016 Album for Her 'Sanity' After Divorce: 'I Wanted to Be Honest' inline
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The ex-couple announced their split in July 2015. “This is not the future we envisioned. And it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately,” they shared in a statement at the time. There were rumors that both of them were unfaithful during the marriage, but fans are still not 100 percent sure what went down between the music duo.

Miranda — who has since gotten married to new hubby Brendan McLoughlin — admitted in an interview with Health in November 2019 that she felt she sort of deserved the public scrutiny around her divorce from the fellow country superstar. “When everyone’s worried about your personal life, it makes you feel like, ‘Well, if you could just spend some of that time talking about my actual art, that would be great!’” the songstress said. “But I guess I asked for it, getting into this business. I’m never gonna get used to the public eye in that way.”

But the singer doesn’t seem to have any regrets. She added during the “Conversation With Miranda Lambert” event with Watts that she’s “never strayed away” from who she is and is proud of that. “At times it’s not helpful in business for me to just be who I am,” the “Little Red Wagon” singer explained. Miranda said her mom told her, “You just need to know who you are and stick with it,” whether that was “popular or not.”

“I’ve never done something image-wise that I was iffy about,” Miranda said. “If it’s a maybe, it’s a no. We live by that. That’s why we have had success because we are trustworthy that way. It’s real and it’s true.”

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