Country Music Fans Tell Nicki Swift Who They Think Is The Best Female Artist - Exclusive Survey
Women haven't exactly had the easiest time of things in country music, with plenty of female country stars speaking out over the years about their struggles to get their music heard on country radio. "It's B.S., straight up! Carrie Underwood still struggles, and that just blows my mind because she's got a million hits and she's Carrie Freakin' Underwood," Miranda Lambert told Redbook back in 2017 of the discrepancy between how well easy it is for male country artists to be played on country radio compared to their female counterparts. "I tell them at the radio stations, 'Just play one of us; it doesn't have to be me. Then we all win.' I'll fight for it until I can't no more." You go, girl!
Underwood herself (who's reciprocated that love from Lambert) has also spoken out about the issue on a few occasions. "I feel like shutting that door on 'women don't want to hear women' because that's BS," she said on "Women Want To Hear Women" in 2018. "I see so many girls out there bustin' their rear ends and so many guys out there that it's some new guy out there has a No. 1, and I'm like, 'Good for you, that's great, but who are you? What's happening?'".
Here at Nicki Swift though, we just can't get enough of our country girls leading the charge, with the ladies of the genre on some pretty heavy rotation.
Carrie Underwood is still getting those votes
So, who's Nicki Swift reader's favorite female artist in country? There are so many insanely talented women in the genre to choose from, so we took it to our readers and asked "Who is your favorite female country artist?" to give some props to the ladies who are doing it for themselves. At the number one spot is the "All-American Girl" herself, Carrie Underwood. This superstar has been leading the way in the genre ever since she came out on top on "American Idol" back in 2005, and she's still clearly still getting plenty of votes by nabbing 47.88% of the votes in our poll. Close behind is her bestie and number one fan Miranda Lambert, with the sassy and talented star being chosen by 15.96% of those asked.
Coming in third place is another "American Idol" alumni, "I Hope" hitmaker Gabby Barrett with 10.87% of the votes, while just behind her is the genre bending powerhouse Kacey Musgraves, who was chosen by 10.53% of respondents. Right behind Musgraves is our equally outspoken country queen, Maren Morris with 10.36% of the votes, while the ever candid Kelsea Ballerini also proved popular with Nicki Swift readers, as 4.41% called her their favorite female country singer.
One thing we love most about these ladies, though? How much they support one another. They've pretty much all teamed up in various combinations before, with our top two dropping the banger "Somethin' Bad" back in 2014.