Miranda Lambert Says Husband Blake Shelton Pulls Her Out of "Darkness"

On writing and singing her own songs: "Early on, an artist told me, 'Don't be yourself. Perform and be someone else. And I thought, 'That seems like exactly the opposite of what I should be doing.' Then I had people wanting me to adjust my lyrics to be more appealing to the masses or whatever. I said, 'No, that's bullsh*t.' I'd rather sell four copies of something that's real than four million copies of something that's fake."

On marriage: "I'm not sunshine and roses. Blake's the happiest person on the planet. He pulls me out of my darkness. . . . Literally everything is the best about being married."

On her 20-pound weight loss: "When you have to walk out there in front of thousands of people, it does feel good to know that your sh*t's not jiggling. I'm just like anybody else, insecure and scared of looking bad or being criticized. But everybody's making this big, giant thing about it. It's way too much focus on women's bikini photos, and I hate it. Why do we care? I want women to love themselves, whatever they've got going on."

On her chosen career: "When I first started playing bars in Texas, my parents had to come so I could get in. I didn't have any other plans. I didn't go to college. There was no 'If this doesn't work out. . . .' It was like, 'This has to work out!' When I walk into a bar and smell old beer and cigarettes, it smells like home, because that's where I grew up."

On lightening up psychologically: "I'm always anxious. I will worry myself into oblivion. I was trying to make everything regimented, and it caused too much stress. I learned everything doesn't have to be perfect. That sometimes it's OK to say, 'I don't want to be the boss today. I have PMS. Bother someone else.' I like things better flawed anyway."