Here Are a Few of Your Favorite Country Artists Performing Before Fame

Country stars can often seem untouchable. From the outside looking in, they feel larger than life. They feel like appeared out of thin air. But, everyone comes from somewhere–even famous musicians. Find three videos below that capture some of your favorite country artists before they hit the big time.

Here Are a Few of Your Favorite Country Artists Performing Before Fame

1. Miranda Lambert

Miranda Lambert got her start on the defunct Nashville Star. Despite taking third place, it launched Lambert’s career, leading her to the stardom she enjoys now. She played many songs on the show, but we’re partial to the performance, below. She channels her country roots into John Mellencamp’s “Hurt So Good.” It’s not hard to see why she has amassed so much success while watching this early performance.

With a girl like you
With a girl like you
Lord knows there are things we can do, baby
Just me and you
Come on and make it, uh

Hurts so good
Come on baby, make it hurt so good
Sometimes love don’t feel like it should
You make it hurt so good

[RELATED: Miranda Lambert Rekindles the Fire with ‘Postcards From Texas,’ Embracing Change, Independence and Homegrown Inspiration]

2. Alan Jackson

Below, you can see a young Alan Jackson singing “He Stopped Loving Her Today” on You Can Be a Star. Jackson goes toe to toe with George Jones’ original version. His low notes are impeccable here–not that it comes as any surprise to Jackson fans.

He said, “I’ll love you till I die”
She told him, “You’ll forget in time”
As the years went slowly by
She still preyed upon his mind

He kept her picture on his wall
Went half crazy now and then
But he still loved her through it all
Hoping she’d come back again

3. Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood has always had an incomparable voice. Don’t believe us? Take the video below as evidence. She powers through Martina McBride’s “A Broken Wing” during a pageant in Arkansas in the late ’90s. She not only hits every note superbly, she also infuses the proper amount of emotion for a song as grandiose as this one.

She loved him like he was
The last man on Earth
Gave him everything she ever had
He’d break her spirit down
Then come lovin’ up on her
Give a little and take it back

She’d tell him ’bout her dreams
He’d just shoot ’em down
Lord, he loved to make her cry
“You’re crazy for believin’
You’ll never leave the ground”
He said, “Only angels know how to fly”

(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for ACM)