Guest HostTours

Miranda Lambert Showers Vegas Animal Shelters With Gifts

Miranda Lambert often gives her time, love, and money to shelter pets, and she did just that while in Las Vegas, playing her residency at Planet Hollywood this week. After…

Miranda Lambert wearing a cowboy hat and all denim.
Jason Davis/Getty Images

Miranda Lambert often gives her time, love, and money to shelter pets, and she did just that while in Las Vegas, playing her residency at Planet Hollywood this week.

After her annual shopping spree at Tractor Supply Company, Lambert and her bandmates visited Hearts Alive Village and Nevada SPCA in Las Vegas to share a truckload of fabulous pet toys, beds, and supplies with the shelters.

Lambert said, "There's nothing more fun or more fulfilling for me than visiting with shelter pets – animal shelters are my holiday happy place."

Hearts Alive Village was honored by MuttNation as the 2023 Mutts Across America recipient, annually recognizing one shelter in every state for its outstanding work.

To keep the holiday cheer going strong, Lambert and MuttNation are celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas with an amazing assortment of gifts, including a chance to win two tickets to her Velvet Rodeo Las Vegas residency, a $500 Tractor Supply gift card, Idyllwind gift cards, pet grooming, t-shirts and much more! Check MuttNation socials daily to learn how to participate.

Miranda posted a video of her visit to the Vegas shelter on Instagram. She captioned the video, which included her shopping for animal gifts and then hugging as many dogs as possible at the shelter, "My heart is so happy!! Had the best day with my band at @heartsaliveanimalrescue & @nevada.spca. Thank you, @tractorsupply, for helping us give these fur babies and shelters the love they deserve!!"

See that post here.

In a separate post, Lambert shared a photo of her and her buddy Carrie Underwood when Carrie visited her show last weekend. She captioned the post, "Sunday night at the velvet rodeo was one of my most favorites ever. My friend @carrieunderwood came to see us, and my two best pals @jonrandallmusic @jackingram surprised the crowd, and we did a few tunes from the Marfa tapes."

Many of her almost five million followers loved seeing her and Underwood together; one fan wrote, "This is beautiful." Another fan said, "Omg! Probably the best show ever!"

See that post here.

In the music industry today, there are several ways to get discovered. TV talent competitions like The Voice, American Idol, and the USA show Nashville Star, which ran from 2003 to 2008, have been launching points for a number of huge country stars.

As we all gear up to watch Blake Shelton on his last coaching appearance on NBC's The Voice tonight (5/23), we look at some country stars and superstars who got their big break winning or just competing in those TV talent-finding shows.

5 - Kacey Musgraves - USA's Nashville Star - 2007

Kacey Musgraves


Rusty Russell/Getty Images

Kacey followed her Texan friend Miranda Lambert in competing on the USA network's Nashville Star in 2007 and did not win the competition but came in seventh place. Twelve years later, in 2019, she won the Grammy for Album of the Year for her Golden Hour. Blake Shelton was a judge on the popular show when Kacey competed.

4 - Chris Young - USA's Nashville Star - 2006

Chris Young


Ethan Miller/Getty Images

This native Tennessean returned to his home state to compete in Nashville Star in 2006, from where he played club gigs in Texas. Chris did actually win the competition and was signed to RCA Records in Nashville as a result. Young still records for RCA (Sony Nashville ) and has charted eleven number-one songs to date.

3 - Morgan Wallen - NBC's The Voice - 2014

Morgan Wallen


Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Morgan is the most successful artist to compete on The Voice. On the show in 2014, Wallen made the top 20 in the blind auditions, where he sang a pop song by Howie Day even though he wanted to sing a country song. He later said the producers made him sing the pop song.

2 - Miranda Lambert - USA's Nashville Star - 2003

Miranda Lambert


Brad Barket/Getty Images

Miranda competed in Nashville Star when she was just 19 years old. She did not win the competition but came in third place. In 2003, the winner of Nashville Star was a guy named Buddy Jewel.

1 - Carrie Underwood - American Idol - 2005

Carrie Underwood


Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Carrie is one of the biggest stars to win American Idol next to Kelly Clarkson. Underwood was 22 years old when she won the competition and later shared her diary entry from the night she won. She wrote in part, "Big moment. I took one more look at the amazing crowd and let it sink in for a few seconds. Ryan (Seacrest) said something like 'And your 2005 American Idol is...' My heart beat fast, and I closed my eyes. CARRIE UNDERWOOD!!!"

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.