Kacey Musgraves has revealed that his 10-year feud with Miranda Lambert started over a song.
The music star explained that she was the creator of Lambert’s 2011 megahit song “Mama’s Broken Heart” and that she originally wrote it for herself.
“This was going to be my first single, and I really liked the song,” she said in an interview with NPR on Wednesday. “At that point I had been a staff writer for years writing for other people, and I finally felt like I had a collection of songs that were my own that I didn’t want to sell to other people.”
The eight-time Grammy winner claimed that the song was pitched without Lambert’s “consent or knowledge” and that Lambert ended up including it on his 2011 album For the Record.
“It was a difficult situation. She ended up liking the song and really wanted it, and I had other co-writers to consider,” the “High Horse” songstress, 37, recalled.
“It was two singers from two small nearby Texas towns. There was a lot going on with that. And we each took different paths that led us to Nashville at different times,” Musgraves, who like Lambert is also a Texas native, further explained.
Looking back on the whole fiasco now, Musgraves is happy with that decision. Because it “forced” her to write “Merry Go Round”, which was more suitable for her debut record. The set ultimately won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Country Album.
Not only was she able to bury that hatchet, but Musgraves reached out to Lambert, 42, to collaborate on the song “Horse and Divorce” for her upcoming album, Middle of Nowhere.
“We hadn’t heard from each other for years and didn’t consider each other friends. One day I saw her riding horses on Instagram and I thought, ‘Well, we’re not friends, but I guess we definitely have two things in common: horses and divorce,'” Musgraves joked.
Lambert and her first husband, Blake Shelton, divorced in 2015, and Musgraves and her ex-husband, Ruston Kelly, divorced in 2020.
After seeing her on social media, Musgraves came up with a “really interesting song” and decided to “randomly” contact her so they could write and record a song together.
“I thought, ‘I know we’ve had our differences over the years, but listen, we have at least two things in common,'” Musgraves said. “‘I’m not trying to be your friend. You have your life and I have mine. But I think this would be a pretty interesting song. Shane[McAnally]and I should write it together.'”
When Lambert responded that he was on board, Musgraves said, “In many ways, it’s come full circle.” They wrote the song “in a matter of hours” while “hanging out old laundry” and “laughing.”
Knowing that many fans have long speculated about their feud, the duo used it to promote the duet, which will be released on May 1st.
Both singers took to their Instagram Stories on Monday to share a questionable video from the 2013 CMA Awards. Previous clips show Lambert accepting the female vocalist of the year award, with Musgraves also nominated.
Earlier in the evening, Musgraves won New Artist of the Year, and Lambert mentioned it in her acceptance speech, saying, “Congratulations to Casey, New Artist. That was awesome. East Texas girls need to stick together.”
But when the camera panned to Musgraves in the audience, the “Space Cowboy” singer looked very unhappy.
Musgraves was the first of the two to share the clip on Monday, tagging Lambert with the caption, “You knew I said something about you 🙄.”
The Pistol Annies member later reposted the clip, replying to Musgraves, saying, “Well, I had a decent conversation.”
Initially, fans thought the post was rekindling Musgraves and Lambert’s feud, but after the tracklist for Musgraves’ album was released on Wednesday, it became clear that the two stars were putting their differences aside.
