More than 15 years ago Martina McBride was working on and off with her husband on the Garth Brooks tour helping to sell T-shirts when Brooks made her a deal: If she got a record contract, he'd give her a shot at being a star.
She landed a contract in 1991 and afterward performed an impromptu a cappella song for Brooks.
"It was right after that he'd said, 'Well, if you don't mind, I'd like you to open my tour next year, all my dates,'" McBride said, recalling the story for "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts. "So I guess I passed the audition."
From there it was a life of packed stadiums, chart-climbing hits and a durable stardom uncommon in an age of easy-come-easy-go starlets. Even having three children hasn't stopped McBride from rocking through her 40s, as they often traveled with their mom to gigs around the world.
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But she's hardly the average mom. McBride recently appeared bikini-clad on the cover of Shape magazine alongside LeAnn Rimes and Julianne Hough, country singers half her age.
"I had sort of questions about doing something like this because I always stress to my girl's [that] it's about being healthy, you know?" McBride said. "That's what I wanted to show with this cover, is that at any age, the important thing is not to be an important size, [it's] to be healthy."
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