Martina McBride, August 25

Thursday, August 25, 8 p.m.

Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, 7077 Elmore Avenue, Davenport IA

A country-music singing/songwriting legend with 14 Grammy nominations to her name, Martina McBride brings her eagerly awaited national tour to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on August 25, the neo-traditionalist talent beloved for smash hits including "Independence Day," "Blessed," and "Concrete Angel."

Born in Sharon, Kansas, in 1966, McBride effectively began her career as a pre-teen, singing with the Schiffters band fronted by her father. Following her 1989 move to Tennessee, she signed a recording contract with RCA Nashville, launching her debut studio album The Time Has Come in 1992. The album's title track made it to number 23 on the country-music charts, and in September of 1993, the singer/songwriter's second studio album The Way That I Am was issued. Its lead single "My Baby Loves Me" reached number two on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming her breakthrough hit, while its third single "Independence Day" peaked in the top 20 and became McBride's signature song. "Independence Day's success elevated sales of The Way That I Am to platinum status, and after her subsequent Wild Angels was released in September 1995, the album reached number 17 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, with the recording's title track becoming McBride's first song to top the Hot Country Songs chart. Debuting in 1997, her fourth studio release Evolution became the artist's best-selling album to date, certifying three times platinum in the United States and spawning six singles that all became major hits, including "A Broken Wing," "Wrong Again," and "Whatever You Say." After releasing a holiday album, McBride's fifth studio album Emotion, issued in 1999, found its lead single "I Love You" topping the Hot Country Songs chart and also making Billboard's Adult Contemporary and Hot 100 charts.

In 2001, McBride released her first Greatest Hits project, which became her first album to top the Top Country Albums chart. All four of the album's new tracks were single releases, including the chart-topping "Blessed," while 2003's Martina certified double platinum in the United States and boasted the top-five singles "This One's for the Girls" and "In My Daughter's Eyes". McBride's seventh studio album, 2005's Timeless, debuted atop the country-albums chart and the top 10 of the Billboard 200, and two years later, the artist returned with her eighth studio record Waking Up Laughing, which debuted in the top five of the Billboard country-albums chart and Billboard 200. A quintet of additional studio recordings have landed since, and to date, McBride has sold more than 23 million albums worldwide. In addition, she has won the Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year award four times (tied with Reba McEntire for the third-most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's Top Female Vocalist award three times.

Martina McBride plays her Davenport engagement on August 25, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $45-80, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)328-8000 and visiting RhythmCityCasino.com.