Martina McBride Minds Her Morals

These days, while too many celebs are gaining their reputations through scandal, gossip and other tabloid exploits, Martina McBride is remembering a piece of advice her mother gave her when the future superstar was attending high school in tiny Sharon, Kansas, with a graduating class of 10 students.

"My mom always said, 'You need to watch out for your reputation. It is important,'" the singer said in American Profile. "That stuck with me. You have to balance it with the fact that you can't worry about what everybody thinks, but at the same time, you have a responsibility to yourself, your family, and your reputation. Growing up in a small community like that where everybody knows you, you have a real sense of accountability. Anything you do or say ... everybody knows it! You have a sense that anything you do will reflect on your family, so you have to watch your p's and q's. I was raised with a really good sense of morals and values."

Morals and values Martina is no doubt mindful of as she and husband John raise three daughters -- Delaney, Emma and Ava.

"I look at my kids, and they are really well adjusted and happy people. Just because I sing, I am not a big star in my house; I'm Mom," Martina notes. "That is important to me. You are shaping little people. It's way more important than record sales or any awards or TV shows. I really want them to have the same kind of upbringing I had. It's not going to be the same in a lot of circumstances, but the way I raise my kids, the things I teach them, the values I teach them, and that sense of self I'm going to pass onto them, is the same."

Martina is among the year's nominees for CMA Female Vocalist - an honor she has won four times.