Miranda Lambert Reveals She Was Once Homeless

Miranda Lambert made a somewhat shocking confession on Wednesday's 'In the Spotlight With Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville' TV special: she was once homeless.

Miranda's parents, Rick and Beverly Lambert, were private investigators, which often led to rather interesting topics of conversation at the dinner table when the singer was a young girl in Longview, Texas. "My parents would talk about whatever child custody or divorce case or cheating case they were working on," Miranda told Robin. "That was normal to me."

When times got to be extremely hard for the Lamberts, they found themselves without a roof over their heads and with barely enough money to eat. "We were homeless," Miranda revealed with a laugh, as she reflected back on how far she's come today. "It sounds weird to say it now because we're so blessed, but when you're self-employed, if the phone doesn't ring, you don't have any business."

Miranda and her family spent the next several months staying with relatives and friends in the area before stumbling onto a house that would change all their lives forever. There was a home in Lindale, Texas that was about to be torn down, but Miranda's family was able to work out a deal with the owners: they would allow them to live there in exchange for fixing the place up, one room at a time.

As they continually struggled to put food on the table, the Lamberts started by planting a garden and raising some animals on the land. In that same house is where young Miranda learned to play guitar.

Years later, when Miranda heard 'The House That Built Me,' written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin, it took her right back to her childhood and that particular home. The tune went on to becoming a record-breaking smash for the 26-year-old singer by holding down the No. 1 position on the charts for four solid weeks. To date, Miranda has the longest running chart-topper of 2010 on the Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart.

"My first two records, I really wanted to prove something, and I kind of had a chip on my shoulder about this is who I am, this is what I want to do and this is what I stand for," Miranda says. "When I got a little bit of success, I started to realize that I didn't have to shove it down people's throats so hard! [laughs] I could just relax because it was working."

Look for Miranda next week when the 44th Annual CMA Awards show airs live Wednesday, November 10 on ABC. She is up for nine trophies, including Album, Female Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year.