Backstage at the CMAs: Lainey Wilson On Meeting Dolly Parton
Lainey Wilson had a night that she will never forget at the 57th Annual CMA Awards. She won several awards. Those including Album of the Year, Female Vocalist of the…
Lainey Wilson had a night that she will never forget at the 57th Annual CMA Awards. She won several awards. Those including Album of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, and the night's top honor: Entertainer of the Year.
When she came backstage, I asked Lainey about meeting and spending some quality time with the 1978 CMA Entertainer of The Year, Dolly Parton. The two got together at Dollywood last week. She told me, "Actually, when I went to Dollywood, and I hung out with her a little bit, I told her... I said the CMAs are around the corner. She said, 'I've won one a time or two.' I mean, Dolly, she's it. She's the one that I look to when I think about how to go about this business. She's never been scared to step outside the lines, to step outside the box. But at the same time she's completely true to herself and true to her story." Indeed, on Lainey's major label debut, 2021's Sayin' What I'm Thinkin', she had a song called "WWDD." That stands for "What would Dolly do?"
She added, "I asked for some advice on how do you keep on going? And she said, 'You've got to keep going, and whatever you are affiliated with, make sure that you're passionate about it because at the end of the day, If you're not, people can read right through that.'"
Wilson concluded with a smile. "It's incredible, you know how everybody says don't meet your hero? Well, I'll tell you what, that's not Dolly Parton. She's someone I think everybody needs to strive to be." And clearly, she's someone who anyone would be lucky to meet.
As we've reported, Lainey and Dolly have a new duet out now. "Mama He's Crazy" is available on the newly released A Tribute To The Judds.
As she celebrates her 31st birthday today (5/19), Lainey Wilson is the reigning Female Vocalist for the ACMs and the CMAs. She also won the ACM Album of the Year award for Bell Bottom Country, beating out albums by Miranda Lambert and Luke Combs.
There is no doubt that Lainey is well on her way to becoming a country music superstar. She currently opens stadium shows for Luke Combs and gets a performance slot at the 2023 CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium in June in front of 65,000 fans worldwide.
As she celebrates her big day today (5/19), we count down what we believe are her six very best songs to date, with many more to come in the future.
RELATED: Lainey Wilson Wins ACM Female Vocalist: 'I Just Met Dolly Parton!'
6 - "Watermelon Moonshine" (2023)
BBRThe chorus of this fun song includes the lyrics, "Drinkin' watermelon moonshine / We cut the burn with a little lime / Parkin' back in them kudzu vines / I was his and every bit of that boy was mine / Too young to know what love was / But we were learnin' on a sweet buzz / There's never nothin' like the first time / And mine's always gonna taste like / Watermelon moonshine."
5 - "Never Say Never" (Cole Swindell with Lainey Wilson) (2021)
WBSwindell said, "I have been a fan of Lainey Wilson's for a while now, and what she brings to this song is everything it needed." The song hit number one on Billboard's Country Airplay chart.
4 - "Grease" - (2023)
BBRA fun song that Lainey performed at the 58th ACM Awards, where she won Album of the Year for "Bell Bottom Country." Wilson released a dancing video for the song, finding country breakdancers that she saw at one of her shows and tracked them down to appear in the video.
3 - "Things a Man Oughta Know" (2020)
BBRThe music video for this song was shot in Wilson's own home partially and filled with personal elements and close friends. She said of the video at the time, "For the music video, we wanted to create a piece of art where people could watch it and feel something all over again." The song won the ACM 2021 Song of the Year.
2 - "Heart Like a Truck" (2022)
BBRLainey said of the song when it came out, "It's a song about finding freedom and strength. Not being afraid of the scars and the bruises and the bumps along the way. That makes you who you are. It builds character." It recently became her third number-one song on the Billboard charts.
1 - "Wait in the Truck" (HARDY with Lainey Wilson) (2022)
BIG LOUDSo many things to say about this amazing song. It just recently won Visual Media (video) of the Year and Music Event of the Year at the 58th ACM Awards. The music video is epic of the song labeled as a "murder ballad" about a male protagonist killing an abuser. Lainey and HARDY performed the song at the 2022 CMA Awards.
