“This is a Celebration”: Lainey Wilson on Being the Third Woman in CMA Awards History to Host Solo, After Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire

Three undeniable Queens of Country.

As Lainey Wilson gears up to host the 2025 CMA Awards this evening (Wednesday, November 19th), the Louisiana native has taken some time to reflect on the honour of becoming only the third woman in history to host the ceremony solo.

The Louisiana trailblazer follows in the footsteps of two fellow country icons, Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. Parton became the first woman to ever host the CMA Awards solo in 1988, with Reba taking the helm by herself for the 1991 instalment.

Over the past couple of years, there's no doubt that Wilson has established herself as the Queen of modern country, with the ‘Heart Like a Truck’ hitmaker earning the CMA Entertainer of the Year gong in 2023 and the ACM equivalent in 2024 and 2025.

As her previous CMA hosting stints alongside Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning have highlighted, Wilson not only possesses a stellar catalogue of country earworms, she also serves as a joyful, kind and inspiring ambassador for the genre as a whole.

Speaking backstage ahead of the CMA Awards, Wilson has explained how this year will be an entirely different experience to previous editions, “When you're hosting by yourself, there ain't nothing to hide behind. I don't have Peyton or Luke next to me this year, so it's just me flying solo. But I feel like they've prepared me, they've kind of you know showed me the ropes, and also just taught me that I don't have to take myself too seriously. I just have to get up there and have a good time, and speak from the heart, and I don't think we can do wrong if we do that”.

Wilson goes on, “When I found out I was hosting the show, I knew that I just wanted to go into it and have the time of my life. I just wanted to not be stressed out, I wanted to just soak up every single moment. I'm like, ‘This is a celebration’”.

The ‘Country's Cool Again’ crooner emphasises how the legacies of Dolly and Reba will be at the front of her mind when she steps onto the Bridgestone Arena stage, “At least for me and my fans, for me to be able to step into the shoes of a lot of women who have done this. Dolly and then Reba - they're the only two that have done this solo. It was important for me to make sure that I just, I step into certain parts of my personality that maybe people don't get to see all the time. I'm gonna show a little bit of that sass, a little bit of that fire. Like I said, it's fun, I'm just gonna try not to take myself too seriously, and really just enjoy the night”.

Wilson then pays a touching homage to two other female artists that are crushing it at the moment, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney, and stressing that their shared success represents a key moment for the genre, “To be nominated alongside Ella and Megan, us having the most nominations this year, it's huge. I think it says a lot”.

She concludes, “It says a lot about the things that are happening in the country music community and the country fanbases. They are gravitating towards female music, and that's a very exciting thing...I remember several years back, watching Miranda [Lambert] accept Female Artist of the Year. I know she said, ‘There are not enough of them, but where are they? There's not enough of them’...I think she'd be somebody who'd be really proud...She is proud, she's proud that there are three women leading the charge right now with the nominations, and it's a big deal. And I'm just so proud of them, I think what they both do is incredible, and they're whooping butt - and we ain't slowing down any time soon”.

We're certain that Wilson is going to hit her debut solo hosting gig at Nashville's CMA Awards out of the park, and we can't wait to see the ‘Live Off’ singer-songwriter hopefully end the night with a well-deserved Entertainer of the Year trophy...

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