On March 15, 2005, up-and-coming country songwriter Miranda Lambert released her very first record, titled “Kerosene.”
Considering this was her first major release, “Kerosene” did incredibly well. The record was Miranda’s first big “win” after earning third place on the singing competition TV show, “Nashville Star” the year prior, and it was a massive stepping stone for this Texas-born artist.
The 12-track record featured 11 songs Miranda wrote (or contributed to writing) herself, including the title-track & most successful of the 12, “Kerosene.” Shortly after dropping the album, Miranda Lambert received multiple CMA, ACM and Grammy nominations, and “Kerosene” soared to “Top 15” status on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 2005. The song also secured the title of “highest-debuting single of the week” in October 8, 2005
In the almost two decades since “Kerosene” came out, Miranda Lambert has crafted a reputation for being known as a very badass blonde…Which is me subtly telling y’all that this girl could kick my ass into next week if she felt like it. (If you think that’s aggressive, watch the “Kerosene” music video or listen to “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” then we’ll talk.) But anyway. This song played a huge role in Miranda creating that rep, and helped her to fine-tune her fiery, edgy, signature sound. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that her best songs are all reminiscent of the ’05 hit.
Yes, Miranda Lambert has a mile-long list of accomplishments after twenty-something years of country fame…But I think it’s fair to call “Kerosene” the hard-launch that started it all.
