9. Martina McBride

One of the biggest female country voices of the 1990s, Martina used her star power to sing songs dealing with female empowerment and other topics including abuse (“Independence Day”), disabilities (“God’s Will”), and cancer (“I’m Gonna Love You Through It”). The journey to her career started out in 1988 when she married her husband John, who was a sound engineer. The two of them moved to Nashville hoping to get Martina the dream she was chasing. John ended up joining Garth Brooks’ sound crew (the biggest country artist at that time and 2012 Hall Of Fame inductee), so Martina sold merchandise during the shows. Garth was impressed by her, so he offered her a spot as an opening act if she could get a recording contract. John helped make her a demo, and she signed with RCA. From there, she put together a music resume that any up-and-coming artist would dream of: songs that are considered classics in the genre, 14 Grammy award nominations and eventually she will earn a spot in the Country Music Hall Of Fame.