Miranda Lambert’s Favorite Christmas Song Reminds Her of Growing Up Without Money

Miranda Lambert is a country sensation known for writing Grammy Award-winning albums. While she’s ultra-successful now, she didn’t always grow up wealthy. Her favorite Christmas song concerns her parents’ financial struggles, which affected her childhood and living situation. Here’s what Lambert said about growing up without money.

Miranda Lambert’s favorite Christmas song is ‘If We Make It Through December’ because of her family’s money struggles

Miranda Lambert comes from humble beginnings. She appeared on Nashville Star, a televised country music singing competition much like American Idol, in 2003, which is how she started her career. She grew up in the Texas town of Lindale and had a guitar at 10, thanks to her dad.

Lambert’s parents worked as private investigators, and her father would sing and play guitar during downtime. She told Classic Country 100.9 that her family would hit tough times during the holidays. Her father would sing and play Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Through December,” which became Lambert’s favorite holiday tune.

“I think my favorite Christmas song of all time is ‘If We Make it Through December,’ because growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money a lot of the years at the holiday season. And my dad, I could just see the look on his face when he would sing that song on his guitar, sitting on the porch every Christmas, trying to make it special for his family,” she explained. “But, sometimes, it’s a real struggle.” 

Lambert added that the song now makes her think of “families out there who really don’t have a way to do the whole Santa, Christmas morning. So, that song just really speaks to that.” 

Lambert explained how her family ‘lost everything’ in her youth

Miranda Lambert speaking on her favorite Christmas song isn’t the first time she’s mentioned the hard times that fell on her family. While speaking to Redbook, she recalled when her mother and father “lost everything.”

“My dad and mom had a successful private investigator business, but there was a spell when jobs stopped coming in,” she explained. “They lost everything and had to start over. We moved to this old farmhouse, and I think that shaped me to be who I am. We fixed it up as the money came little by little, one room at a time. I remember my mom tacked pictures on the walls of what it was going to look like, every little detail.”

The country singer went on to explain how she was “literally homeless” for awhile. “We had to live with my uncle,” she continued. “And I watched my dad come through it. He had to dig ditches a few times for four dollars an hour because we had to eat. The part that I love the most is that when we moved out to the house that built me — that’s what we call the farmhouse now — Dad was like, ‘My family will never be hungry again.'”

Blake Shelton joked that Lambert is now too rich to receive Christmas gifts

Miranda Lambert certainly isn’t hurting for money anymore. During her marriage to Blake Shelton, Shelton joked that she was too rich to receive Christmas gifts.

“I don’t know if you realize, but Miranda Lambert is rich,” Shelton told E! News in 2012. “And I’m thinking, ‘What can I get her that she doesn’t already have?’ So, I’m thinking maybe a card. Or maybe I’ll make her something, draw her a picture or something like that. Because I don’t want to blow a bunch of my money on her when she already has a bunch of money she can blow on herself.”

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