Though they've competed for one of the precious, few spots atop country music —which is rarer air for women in the genre— ever since both emerged in the early aughts from different singing competition series, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert continue to have each others' backs.
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On her year-round SiriusXM channel Carrie's Country, Underwood praised Lambert's talent and resolve while putting over their sibling-like kinship.
"I have so much respect for [Lambert] and the things that she's accomplished, the songs she writes, the songs she chooses. We're sisters in this together, man," Underwood said. "I hope she knows I'm always in her corner; I think she is always in mine."
Carrie Talking about her respect and love for Miranda. Followed by Somethin Bad! pic.twitter.com/gRL6dCIum1
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As Lambert has opened up about recently, she resisted pressures to change her sound and image en route to superstardom.
"I'm proud to see us still kicking it after all these years. I love her and I really respect that she is who she is and has never deviated from that," Underwood added. "And she's never tried to fit anybody else's box that they might try to put her in. She does what she wants. I respect that very much."
Underwood won American Idol's Season 4 in 2005. Lambert placed third in 2003 on the USA Network's Nashville Star.
In a clip shared by People from the May 5 episode of CNN's Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?, Lambert got candid about past attempts to stifle her creative control.
"There was a risk of people trying to dress me in a way that I didn't want to dress or change my sound, and I just wasn't going to go for that, even really young," she shared, referencing experiences she first faced as a teenager.
Lambert stood her ground in part because she views country music as being about more than marketability.
"I just kind of knew. It's not about that," she explained. "It's about what I have to say, because I knew I had some really great messages I wanted to share with the world and I wanted that to be through song and not through, you know, a crop top."
