Inside the Whirlwind: A Look at Lainey Wilson's Meteoric Rise (So Far)

In what seems like the blink of an eye, Lainey Wilson has become a household name in the country music landscape.

Enjoying multiple chart-topping hits, a trio of critically acclaimed (and award-winning or nominated) albums that have pulled in more than 9.5 million monthly Spotify listeners and an onslaught of honors and accolades — including being named the reigning ACM and CMA Entertainer of the Year — some may see it as a quick rise to country superstardom. The truth of the matter, though, is that Lainey Wilson's success is characterized by hard work and perseverance, a seed sowed more than a decade ago that is finally being reaped for a rather bountiful harvest.

Hailing from Baskin, Louisiana, a town totaling less than 250 residents as of 2023 and likely not big enough for its own map dot until recent years, Wilson was raised by her father Brian Wilson – not of Beach Boys fame, but a fifth-generation farmer – and her mother Michelle. Early on, she honed a love for country music and its subject matter, mostly because her family was actively living the lyrics sung by classic crooners like Buck Owens and Glen Campbell.

After learning a few chords from her father on the guitar and being inspired by pop star Britney Spears, Wilson wrote her first song at age 9, around the same time she made her first visit to the legendary Grand Ole Opry. Offering a preview of the loving ditty during her Exclusive Artist Interview at CMA Fest 2024, the song was called 'Lucky Me.' While it certainly wasn't the most profound song ever written – remember, she was 9 – it did show a certain promise in what the young talent could accomplish, if it could be honed.

Throughout her middle and high school years, she took a job as a Hannah Montana impersonator. More often than not booking her own shows, she performed as the popular Disney Channel character at birthday parties, fairs, festivals, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and everywhere in between, barreling across Louisiana and its surrounding states.

While cutting your teeth singing songs made famous by a teenager in a blonde wig may not be the tried and true path to success, the stars seemed to align for Wilson, who, shortly after her high school graduation, packed up and moved to Nashville in August 2011.

Determined to chase her neon-tinged dream – and hopefully sing some of her own songs for a change – she spent the better part of three years living in a camper trailer outside of a recording studio in Music City. Being told by executive after executive that her style was essentially too country, she continued playing small shows, honing her craft and setting down roots as she waited for someone to take a chance on her Southern-singed voice and evocative songwriting.

After releasing her self-titled album in 2014, which has been completely scrubbed from streaming services, she followed it up with 2016's Tougher. Notching her first foray onto the charts at No. 44 on Billboard's Top Country Albums, this is when Wilson's career showed the first signs of what was to come.

A self-titled and self-released EP arrived in 2018, including six tracks from the hopeful artist, and within the year, it would lead to her landing a publishing deal with Sony/ATV, as well as a major label recording contract with BBR Music Group. With this vote of confidence from major Nashville industry players behind her, she issued her three-song Redneck Hollywood project in 2019, which included her debut label single, 'Dirty Looks,' as well as her upbeat, autobiographical tune, 'LA,' dedicated to her home state. Turning the heads of suits at CMT, she was added to their Listen Up and Next Women of Country Classes of 2019, landing an opening slot on then rising star Morgan Wallen's headline tour.

The piece of this puzzle that had the greatest impact was still to come, though, as an emerging TV show created by Taylor Sheridan, with musical supervision from Andrea von Foerster, began featuring her songs. As it was doing for her contemporaries like Zach Bryan, Whiskey Myers, Blackberry Smoke, Ryan Bingham and others, Yellowstone – whether intentionally or not – was introducing viewers to the next generation of country and Americana hitmakers. Wilson would become one of the greatest beneficiaries, all starting with her song 'Working Overtime', which featured in Season 2.

Exposing her to a wider net of fans and grabbing the attention of music executives up and down Music Row, she released her next radio single in August 2020, a little ditty called 'Things a Man Oughta Know.'

Chronicling the downfalls of men who don't love women properly, it struck a chord with listeners far and wide. Within a year, it was her breakout single, surging to the top of the Billboard Country Airplay chart and to the third spot on the Hot Country Songs rankings.

Spawned from her third record, Sayin' What I'm Thinkin', which reached No. 40 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, the vulnerable song won her a pair of trophies at both the ACM and CMA Awards, including ACM Song of the Year, CMA New Artist of the Year and both of the organization's iterations of Female Artist of the Year.

All the while, Wilson was piercing through the popular culture consciousness as more and more of her songs were featured in the now smash hit show, Yellowstone – her songs 'Straight Up Sideways' and 'Small Town Girl' soundtracked Season 3. Another No. 1 came in the form of her Cole Swindell duet, 'Never Say Never,' all while garnering songwriting credits for fellow artists like Luke Combs, Flatland Calvary, Ashley McBryde, MacKenzie, Porter and more.

In October 2022, Bell Bottom Country arrived. Not just another studio album, it was the perfect representation of Wilson's brand as a whole so far.

Blending traditional country sounds with a modern yet simultaneously retro, bayou flare, Wilson and her trusty producer, Jay Joyce, drew influence from the outlaws of the '70s, injecting a country-rock edge into the 16-track project. What resulted was a trio of No. 1 hits – 'Heart Like A Truck,' 'Watermelon Moonshine' and 'Wildflowers and Wild Horses' – and a packed schedule that included upwards of 150 shows within the calendar year.

With the release of Bell Bottom Country, Wilson officially became not only one of the most popular artists in the genre, but one of the busiest. In Season 5 of Yellowstone, Wilson made her acting debut, taking on the recurring role of a local musician named Abby. Across the season, Wilson showcased a trio of cuts from Bell Bottom Country, including 'Watermelon Moonshine,' 'Hold My Halo' and 'Smell Like Smoke.'

As she careened through her unending schedule, Wilson was busy adding new trophies to her mantel, including the ACM Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country, Female Artist of the Year and a pair of awards for Musical Event and Visual Media of the Year, all thanks to her collaboration and eventual No. 1 duet with HARDY, 'wait in the truck.'

Before the year's end, she received an astounding nine CMA Award nominations. Of the five that she took home, she was named the CMA Entertainer of the Year, beating out heavy hitters like Morgan Wallen, Chris Stapleton, Luke Combs and Carrie Underwood, and becoming the first female to take the honor since Taylor Swift in 2009. What's more, Bell Bottom Country went on to be named the ACM Album of the Year in 2024, as well as Best Country Album at the 2024 Grammy Awards.

After spending year after year tackling the road and taking every opportunity she could grasp hold of, the Entertainer of the Year nod felt like the moment where Lainey Wilson had officially made it. With a decade spent cutting her teeth, writing and clawing for the chance for her music to be heard, she had reached the pinnacle, the crowning achievement in country music, and she had done it without sacrificing exactly who she was: a hopeful singer-songwriter from Baskin, Louisiana with a deep southern drawl and grounded authenticity to match.

But it was her sound, rooted in country music and borrowing elements of pop, southern rock and the classic figures of the genre, and her lyrics, heartfelt and vulnerable while also universally felt and unabashedly country, that led her to where she is today.

The word to describe Lainey Wilson's 2024 can only be "whirlwind". With country's undeniable breakthrough in international countries, Wilson flew the flag on a headlining run in the first part of the year, selling out venues all across Australia, Europe and the UK before heading back stateside to kick off the US leg of the tour, a run that has kept her busy since May and will continue to do so through the end of this year.

Wilson became a coveted member of the Grand Ole Opry at the top of June within a week of opening Bell Bottoms Up, her own three-story bar, Cajun restaurant and music venue, in downtown Nashville. It was followed just a few months later by the arrival of her highly-anticipated 2024 record, Whirlwind, which includes 'Hang Tight Honey,' '4x4xU,' 'Country's Cool Again' and the Miranda Lambert-graced 'Good Horses.'

Now, as the calendar winds down on 2024 and another award season rears its head to crown the year's biggest victors and gainers, it's time to take stock of where the genre's gone and also where it's going, including what role Lainey Wilson is playing in that.

To say that it's been a breakout couple of years for country music is a glaring understatement, as eight songs have surged to the pinnacle of the all-genre Billboard 100 in the last 48 months or less, though only two women have had a hand in the celebrations – Beyoncé sent 'Texas Hold 'Em' to No. 1 in early 2024 and Kacey Musgraves was featured on Zach Bryan's 'I Remember Everything' in fall of 2023.

With country music experiencing such a landmark shift in public perception and being embraced by listeners across genre lines, it's telling that Wilson, the figure seemingly serving as the 2020s Queen of Country Music, hasn't really taken up a share of the pie and her most recent radio single, 'Hang Tight Honey', never even made it to the top of the country charts.

There's no doubt that the Louisiana hitmaker is the leading lady in the current age, but after such a long journey to the top that's seen her take over screens on Yellowstone and late night TV, say ‘yes’ to what feels like every collaboration that's come her way (and a lot of them not moving the needle at all like 'Thicc As Thieves' with Lauren Alaina, 'More Than Friends' with Lukas Nelson & the Promise of the Real and other offerings with everyone from Anne Wilson and Craig Morgan to Ernest and Keith Urban) and generally doing everything everywhere all at once, it's begun to feel like maybe the country music community is getting Lainey-ed out.

Zooming out to look at the strategy behind her career, it makes logical sense that you'd want your artist to get as much exposure as humanly possible and boost their name recognition wherever and however means necessary. Yet, when you view it on a micro scale, it's hard not to see it as over-saturation.

The reality is that Wilson was on her way to becoming the darling of the country industry after the onslaught of 'Things A Man Oughta Know,' and not because she was cool or "trendy". It was because she had something to say, and that, in and of itself, was a breath of fresh air.

While the exposure from Yellowstone, of course, helped her expedite the process, what has drawn and continues to draw people to Lainey Wilson is the power of her prose and the authenticity and authority of her music. In a genre that's recently been full of trap beats and the country cliché's about trucks, beers, girls and hunting or fishing (you can pick your poison there), what Wilson offers is a much-needed, empowering female perspective.

Rather than singing about a boy that did her wrong, or a boy that she thinks is cute, or a boy that treats her well for at least the three minutes it takes to get the song out, Wilson offers storylines about women who work hard, play hard, have purpose within themselves and can achieve anything they set their mind to, regardless of if there's a boy in the picture at all.

Going into the 58th Annual CMA Awards, Wilson has her cowboy hat in the ring for four categories, including Music Video of the Year, Single of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year – which could mark her third consecutive win – and the coveted Entertainer of the Year. The only woman represented against the likes of Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen, it's no doubt a heavy load to carry as she vies for her second consecutive win - for context, Taylor Swift & Barbara Mandrell are the only women to have won Entertainer of the Year more than once.

Lainey Wilson is actively redefining the country genre, and while the last few years have been a whirlwind to say the least, there's no one better to weather the storm.

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