Carrie Underwood Praises Miranda Lambert as 'Super Supportive': 'We Lift Each Other Up'

Miranda Lambert‘s kind, supportive words bring tears to Carrie Underwood‘s eyes.

On an episode of The Ty Bentli Show, the “Southbound” singer, 36, spoke about the bond women in country music share, built on a collective understanding of the setbacks they can face as artists navigating the industry.

Underwood is set to co-host the Country Music Association Awards this Wednesday — her 12th time filling that role — as she’s joined by country icons Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton to emcee the show. On top of hosting, the star is nominated for entertainer of the year, the only female performer included in the category.

In the past two years, no women have been up for the category, and a woman hasn’t won the title since Taylor Swift in 2011.

During her interview, the radio hosts played Underwood a clip of Lambert speaking out about why Underwood deserved the award out of all the nominees.

“To me, Entertainer of the Year is who’s represented the genre in every way the best for that year. It was just kinda haunting me, I really felt compelled to say something,” Lambert said in the recording. “Watching Carrie host the CMAs pregnant, and also do the [Sunday] Night Football campaign, and also have a brand, and also work with charity, and be a wife, and be a mother, and then host with two legendary country artists … I just know how much work that is.”

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She continued: “She works harder than I do, and I work hard. And I just felt like, as a whole, with her tour and everything she encompasses and what she’s represented for country music, she deserves it. She just does.”

Visibly moved by Lambert’s comments, Underwood then returned the favor, saying, “She’s always been just super supportive and super sweet.” She also went on to explain that her nomination inherently means more than just recognition for her work alone.

“First — I’m kinda emotional,” Underwood said. “I mean, it’s a nomination for all of us, and it would definitely be, you know, not just a win for all of the things that we’ve been doing, all that stuff that she mentioned that I’m so lucky and blessed enough to do, but I mean you know you watch other women in this industry do the same thing …”

The kind words go both ways too. Underwood just sent birthday wishes to Lambert, who turned 36 on Sunday, captioning a post of the two together: “Happy birthday @mirandalambert !!! Hope you and yours have the best day! Gonna raise my glass to you and all the good times we’ve shared over the years! Here’s to many more! 😘”

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Underwood, who’s up against Garth Brooks, Eric Church, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban for entertainer of the year, said she feels women need more opportunities to truly shine in the business.

“We have so much talent, we just need some more open doors,” she said. “And I don’t ever want any woman to feel like they can’t do everything, you know — [that] they can’t have this life and have a family and have all the things going on together and do what they do.”

Reflecting on the current state of the country music world, Underwood said the female artists of the genre are “all in it together.”

“If there’s one incredible thing that’s happened from all of this talk of ‘women in country music,’ it’s the fact that I feel like we’ve all banded together, and we all understand,” she said. “We’re the only ones that can understand because we’re women in this business and they don’t know what it’s like to be us.”

She added: “We lift each other up, we support each other.”