Martina McBride Met Her Husband Before She Was Famous

Country superstar Martina McBride has had a long career in music, but her love story dates back even further. The "This One's for the Girls" singer has been married to her husband, John McBride, since the early stages of her music career.

The pair has been together for decades, marrying before Martina was signed to a label. Now, the couple has grown to a family of five.

John and Martina's love story begins before Martina was a country superstar. In 1987 (yes, we're talking over three decades of love here), the pair met when Martina was in a rapidly deteriorating band when she rented a space for the group to practice from John. At the time, her name was Martina Schiff. She says the band was frustrating her, refusing to rehearse and putting her in a tight spot.

"Here I was, crying on his shoulder about my band not coming together, and I thought, 'I'm in love with this guy. This is crazy,'" she recounted to People in 1998

Even John said it felt like fate. The pair wed only a year after meeting, and their marriage was one of the factors in Martina's big break into the industry.

John was a sound engineer at the time they met, and only two years after their wedding, they moved to Nashville, Tenn. in search of better careers in the industry. Once John got a job working for Garth Brooks, Martina worked the merch table so she could tour with him.

Building their careers together is what made their connection so strong – and what eventually awarded Martina her big break. According to Country Living, it was John who passed her demo onto someone at RCA records, leading to her eventual signing with the company. 

"The fact that we've been able to experience this career together has enabled us to grow together," she said, according to the outlet. "If I was to be off traveling and doing all of these exciting things and he wasn't able to share that with me, that would be hard for both of us. I think that it's really important that we've been able to do this together."

Together, Martina and John are parents to three daughters: Delaney, Emma, and Ava Rose. Delaney, the oldest, was born in 1994, while Emma was born in 1998 and Ava Rose eight years later.

According to Taste of Country, it was Delaney who inspired her hit song "Teenage Daughters," around the time when Delaney was growing older and entering her teenage years.

"I was just saying how one minute you are everything to them .. and the next minute it's just a whole different thing," she said, according to the outlet.

Martina has made a couple of red carpet appearances with her daughters, including them in her successes.

Currently, Emma is the only one of the trio who has tried her hand in the entertainment industry, moving to Los Angeles at only 19 to pursue acting, though it appears none of her children have the interest in music their parents did.