Lainey Wilson on carrying the torch for women in country: âThis fight isnât new, itâs a generational struggleâ
Grammy-winning country singer Lainey Wilson tells NME about keeping herself grounded, the impact of the genre going mainstream and more.
A few hours before her final show of 2024 â her 102nd performance of the year, as sheâs quick to point out â Lainey Wilson tells NME sheâs ready for something new: something quieter, simpler and far removed from the whirlwind of country music stardom sheâs been swept up in. After years on the road, sheâs laid down roots in the fertile hills outside Nashville, where, on her 30 acres, she dreams of building a barn and reconnecting with the farm life that shaped her.
âIâm looking forward to sitting around a bonfire at night and waking up late and sitting on the porch with my dog,â she muses backstage at the MGM Grand Arena, nestled inside a bustling casino off the Las Vegas Strip. Outside, girls in rhinestone boots, wide-brimmed hats and hip-hugging bell bottoms fill the casino floor, a sea of sequins and fringe amid the din of slot machines. The glittering chaos feels like a mirror of her life at this moment: thrilling, relentless and always on. âIâve been touring solid since I was in eighth grade,â she says in her thick Louisiana drawl.
Lainey Wilson. Credit: Erick FrostNow, Wilson finds herself yearning for stillness. Or, at least, a sense of grounding. Itâs a sentiment her friend Miranda Lambert shared with her during a recent conversation. âShe was like, âItâs so important for me to get out there and scoop the poop and throw the hay and catch the horses. Those are the things that remind you whatâs really important.'â What sheâs most excited about, though, is something she hasnât experienced in a long time: boredom. âI need to get bored.â
AdvertisementâThe truth is I can always fight for creativity,â she explains. âIâve been able to write with such incredible writers [who] taught me how to put myself into the shoes of whatever weâre writing.â She gestures to the tapestry of wild horses hanging on the wall behind her. âIf we want to write about this thing right here, they taught me how to feel it for everything that it is. But Iâm excited to see â because I have not had it in a long time â what creativity means for me when I get bored.â
âGetting to know women like Miranda Lambert and Reba McEntire has shown me this fight isnât new â itâs a generational struggleâ
Itâs a rare moment of reflection for Wilson, whose career over the past few years has been anything but idle. âIt feels like weâve covered 10 years in one if that makes any sense at all,â she says. And in Nashville, that sentiment rings true â itâs famously a â10-year townâ, where it takes about a decade to carve out a real place in the industry. It took Wilson roughly 10 years and one day to land her first Number One on the country charts with her 2020 single âThings a Man Oughta Knowâ. Inside the MGM Grand Arena, the song takes on a life of its own. Stripped down to just her voice, a guitar, and the echo of women singing along in the crowd, the performance feels both intimate and triumphant. âI think I needed to experience more loss, heartbreak, love and rejection to tell the kind of stories I was meant to tell,â she says.
Since 2021, the momentum has only grown. With milestones and accolades piling up in her homeâs upstairs landing, sheâs been riding a wave of success thatâs carried her from Nashville to Hollywood and back again: a Grammy win for her critically acclaimed 2022 album âBell Bottom Countryâ, becoming the first woman to claim Entertainer of the Year at the CMAs since Taylor Swift in 2011, landing a role on the hit TV series Yellowstone, and being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry â a designation she says âmakes little Lainey proudâ. And as the 2025 Grammy Awards loom, her latest album âWhirlwindâ has earned a nomination for Best Country Album.
Lainey Wilson. Credit: Maarten de BoerâIâm proud of it,â Wilson says, her pride not just for her own accomplishments but for the broader shift happening within country music. This yearâs nominees for Best Country Album indicate how much the genre is evolving. With artists like Beyoncé and Post Malone â pop stars whoâve ventured into country territory â alongside Kacey Musgravesâ fluid shift between genres, the landscape feels more diverse than ever.
The chart-topping success of Shaboozeyâs âA Bar Song (Tipsy)â has further brought country music into the mainstream. Itâs a sign that country music, an industry long governed by rigid gatekeepers, is slowly opening its doors to a wider audience. âSo many people are finding out that they love country music who didnât know they liked it at all,â Wilson says. âArtists like Post and Beyoncé are introducing their audiences to this kind of music, and itâs only done good things for the genre. Itâs cool to see.â
Lainey Wilson. Credit: Eric Ryan AndersonFor Lainey Wilson, country music is more than just a career; itâs a feeling she wants everyone to experience as well â so much so that she wrote a whole song about it. The swaggering backwoods jam âCountryâs Cool Againâ is an ode to her rural roots and pop cultureâs Americana awakening. It captures the essence of Wilsonâs country sensibilities â grounded in honesty and a deep sense of place. âIf it was up to me, I want every person on the face of the earth to experience that feeling,â she says. âI donât know what Iâd do without it.â
AdvertisementItâs a delicate balance â staying true to her small-town roots while simultaneously breaking down barriers in an industry overwhelmingly dictated by men. Even as her career soars, Wilson isnât immune to feelings of imposter syndrome, especially in spaces where sheâs had to fight for her place. âWith this record, Iâm learning to trust myself,â she says of âWhirlwindâ. âIâm stepping into a confidence I lacked on the first or second record⦠I can go on stage now and tell my band exactly what Iâm thinking. Thatâs been a game-changer.â
Sheâs had to confront those insecurities head-on. âIt will eat you alive,â she admits. âI told myself, âItâs gotta go because itâs stopping me from doing what Iâm meant to do. Nobody has time for that.'â
âArtists like Post Malone and Beyoncé are introducing their audiences to [country music], and itâs only done good things for the genreâ
This confidence fuels her commitment to paving the way for other women in country music, a cause she feels deeply. âGetting to know women like Miranda Lambert and Reba McEntire has shown me this fight isnât new â itâs a generational struggle,â she says. âIâve got no choice. I have to carry the torch for them, too.â
Wilson also holds hope for the next wave of women in country. âThere are so many talented women who can write the hell out of a song,â she says. âFrom Megan Moroney to Ella Langley, theyâre having a moment, and I hope it keeps growing. But itâs still a challenge â Iâm still navigating it myself.â
As her reach expands, her commitment to staying authentic and telling the stories that matter most to her remains constant, whether itâs a song that makes you laugh, cry or crack open a beer. âI write about the way I was raised, who I am, and what I stand for,â she says. And itâs resonating with audiences all over the world. In the spring, Wilson will kick off the European leg of her âWhirlwindâ tour and headline the 2025 C2C Festival, a fact she still finds surreal as a girl raised in a tiny Louisiana farm town: âI never thought someone on the other side of the world would relate to [my music].â
Lainey Wilson. Credit: Eric Ryan AndersonâI just figured I was writing for people like me, from little towns like mine,â Wilson adds. Yet, as her songs reach listeners worldwide, she has found a unifying truth: âThe more I go over there, the more I realise how much we all have in common.â Wilsonâs connection with her fans in the UK runs deep, dating back to her first trip overseas in 2018 for Country Music Week. âTo tell you the truth, I had more fans over there for a while than I did before it caught on over here,â she laughs.
But for now, Wilsonâs ready for some downtime. âIâm excited to have my own little farm and get back to doing those things that make me me and made me want to write music,â she says. Things like being the fun aunt to her three nephews, a mom to her French bulldog Hippie, and the Lainey who âgrew up in that little house that wasnât insulated and with parents that busted their tail so I could have opportunitiesâ. Itâs about keeping your people close, she says. âThatâs country music right there.â
Lainey Wilson will headline Day 1 of the 2025 C2C Festival at The O2. Her latest album âWhirlwindâ is out now on Spotify, Apple Music and more.
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