Ashley McBryde startled the audience at the 2023 CMT Music Awards when she entered the stage with Wynonna Judd to perform a stunning performance of Foreigner’s “I Wanna Know What Love Is.” However, the Arkansas-born performer has been a big thing for quite some time.
Her awards include a Grammy (and five more nominations), three ACM Awards, and one CMA Award, as well as a bevy of nominations and a Platinum song. Oh, and Garth Brooks encouraged her to join the Grand Ole Opry in 2022.
Ashley McBryde Presents Welcome to Lindeville, her third album, was released last year. Once you get to know the star, you’ll understand why Brooks, Judd, and other legends are such big fans.
Ashley McBryde Biography
Ashley McBryde’s family, education
McBryde was raised in Saddle, Arkansas. She was reared by her mother, Martha A. Wilkins, father, William C. McBryde, and brother, William Clayton McBryde. Her parents’ location or activities are not mentioned anywhere on the internet. Because her father was a priest, her family was nurtured in a rigorous environment.
As a child, she was fascinated to The Carpenters and Kris Kristofferson songs since they were constantly played in her house. McBryde’s family decided to get her her own guitar after noticing how frequently she played her father’s guitar. McBryde composed her first song when she was 12 years old, and she aspired to be a singer-songwriter.
Her mother’s frequent attendance at bluegrass festivals affected her musical career. McBryde was a member of her high school band before enrolling at Arkansas State University to study French horn.
During the same time period, she frequently performed in Memphis, Tennessee bars. After noticing McBryde’s lack of academic interest, a college lecturer recommended her to drop out of school and focus completely on music.
Ashley McBryde’s net worth is estimated to be between $1 million and $5 million, but this has not been proven. She published her first two albums as an independent performer.
In other words, she was not signed to a record label and earned the entire amount. Her latest tours and record sales have aided her career; her third album, in particular, sold over 40,000 copies.
Did Ashley McBryde sing backup for Eric Church?
When his longtime (and now ex) backing vocalist Joanna Cotten became ill in 2017, Eric Church brought out Ashley McBryde to sing with him at Madison Square Garden.
Before performing “Bible and a.44,” he told the audience, “I mentioned I had a guest, and there’s a young lady here who I have become a massive fan of, and you guys are going to be a massive fan of her real soon.”
She’s only getting started in her career, but she’s certainly my favorite artist out right now who isn’t yet available, but will be very soon. So I encouraged her to come out and we’re going to sing an acoustic song she created… Please greet Ashley McBryde.”
Who is Ashley McBryde’s dad?
Ashley McBryde’s father is William McBryde, a former preacher who has a degenerative condition. Ashley learnt to play the guitar on her father’s guitar before her parents bought her her own.
Ashley stated that her father wanted her to attend medical school and that he still does, despite her success and celebrity.
“Just a few years ago, right when he was first getting sick, we took a trip together,” Ashley said to CBS News in 2019. “‘Well, just tell me something,’ he responded. ‘Promise me you’ll go to medical school after you’ve made your money and had your fill of all this music stuff.'”
“You can say whatever you want about me and us and the music we make, but my Daddy doesn’t approve of it,” she added. So, how terrible would it harm me if you say that?” Ashley stated that she is cautious about sharing specifics about her life and job with her father, and that he has never been interested in stardom.
“‘You know, Daddy, I’m not just playing bars anymore,’ I remarked. I’m having fun with arenas. “We’re going around the world,” she recalled. “‘I’m proud of you,’ he said. I didn’t mention anything about you. Everyone wants their father to be proud of them. “Everyone does.”
Is Ashley McBryde a member of the Grand Ole Opry?
McBryde told the audience at the Grand Ole Opry in late 2021, “I dream about joining the Opry and what that day will be like.” Will I be sobbing the entire time? Will I be able to sit? Who will question me? I fantasize about it more than I do about my wedding.”
Garth Brooks officially invited McBryde to join the Grand Ole Opry in October 2022.
Who is the mother of Ashley McBryde?
Martha Wilkins is Ashley McBryde’s mother. There isn’t much else known about her.
Where did Ashley McBryde come from?
McBryde was born in Saddle, Arkansas. She played in her high school band. She went on to Arkansas State University, where she played the French horn.
How old is Ashley McBryde?
McBryde was born on the 29th of July, 1983. She is 39 years old as of this writing.
Does Ashley McBryde have tattoos?
McBryde has a lot of tattoos so many, in fact, that she admits she can’t keep track of them all. She has stated that each of them had a unique value for her, particularly the enormous eagle on her chest.
“If you’ve ever been in a bar with a bunch of old sailors and see a guy with an eagle tattooed across his chest, that guy has seen some stuff,” she explained to The Boot, adding that the eagle was a means for her to “stomach” celebrity and formal gatherings. “I thought it was perfect exactly how I needed to feel.” I’m so uncomfortable on red carpets, so this is a power move for me.”
McBryde does, however, have one tattoo that she regrets (and that the rest of the world will probably never see): a huge baby devil on her lower back that she received when she was 18 years old.
“It’s a fat baby devil in a bikini, and it’s a tramp stamp,” she acknowledged on a radio show in 2018. “This is my ‘I’m leaving, I’ll do whatever I want’ tattoo.” ‘Are you sure?’ asked the tattoo artist. ‘Are you certain?’ I said, ‘Yeah, put it on there.’ And I was clean… To be fair, it also has wings and a halo, so it has both. But it’s really, really bad.
What happened to Ashley McBryde’s brother?
Ashley McBryde’s brother, William Clayton “Clay” McBryde, died in June 2018 at the age of 53. It’s unclear what caused his death, and few specifics about the circumstances surrounding his death are public. Clay was an Army veteran who participated in the Iraq War and a 25-year police officer. Tanya, his wife, and he married in November 2017.
Clay had a son called Bradley, who asked that money be directed to the Mission 22 organization, which helps veterans with PTSD and promotes awareness about suicide. McBryde previously told PEOPLE that after Clay’s death, she experienced panic attacks and acute anxiety, but that she eventually got it under control.
Ashley McBryde Net Worth
Ashley McBryde’s net worth is estimated to be between $1 million and $5 million, but this has not been proven. She published her first two albums as an independent performer.
In other words, she was not signed to a record label and earned the entire amount. Her latest tours and record sales have aided her career; her third album, in particular, sold over 40,000 copies.
Does Ashley McBryde have siblings?
Clay McBryde was McBryde’s brother. She said after his passing that she wrote a song about him alongside frequent colleague and friend Nicolette Hayford.
“During one session, I commented, ‘We share something I despise.’ “Nicolette and I are both Dead Brother Club members,” McBryde said to About You magazine. “And both of our brothers have served in the military.” They died in quite different ways, but they were both Army veterans. ‘Yeah, what do you want to say about it?’ she replied. ‘Well, I’m pissed off about that,’ I said. So she says, ‘OK, let’s go get our cigarettes.'”
What is the meaning behind the song “Martha Divine?”
“Martha Divine” is about a girl whose father cheats on her mother. The young lady, described by McBryde as “a little bit crazy… Bible-beating and protective of her mother,” confronts her father’s mistress. “I love the way [the word] ‘divine’ sounds,” McBryde said of crafting the song.
That’s a wonderful song to sing, so we should make up a plot and perform a ‘Jolene’ thing. Rather than singing, ‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, please don’t take my man,’ how about, ‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, I’m coming after you with a shovel?’
Conclusion
While the song “Martha Divine” basically tells the story of a young girl murdering or burying her father’s mistress, the music video series of which “Martha Divine” is a part—which began with “One Night Standards” and concludes with “Hang In There Girl” shows the girl in question leaving Martha Divine alone in the woods barefoot.