Lainey Wilson has big plans for new music in 2026. Wilson just celebrated her ninth No. 1 single, with “Somewhere Over Laredo.” The song is on her latest Whirlwind Deluxe, which followed her 2024 Whirlwind record. The 33-year-old says new music is coming from her, likely soon.

“We are already cooking some stuff up,” Wilson shares at a recent media event. “To tell you the truth, we were already in the kitchen, cooking it up before Whirlwind was even out, which was a year and a half ago now. I feel like we’re always writing, because I don’t feel like I’m myself if I’m not creating and writing. I feel like that’s what gets me through all the busyness, and all the other parts of the job that exist.

“And so,” she continues, “I think people are really going to love what we’ve been working on. Of course, I’m partial. I think it definitely is going to show another side of my artistry. Always staying true to myself, but the more life I live, the more experience I have, where I realize I’ve got more to say and share.”

@everythingnash @Lainey Wilson has new music coming out soon, and she can’t wait for fans to hear it. #countrymusic #laineywilson #Whirlwind ♬ original sound – EverythingNash

The Story Behind Lainey Wilson’s “Somewhere Over Laredo”

Wilson wrote “Somewhere Over Laredo” with Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, and Andy Albert. Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, who wrote “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” are also credited as writers, since “Somewhere Over Laredo” is inspired by the Judy Garland classic.

“The truth is that I spend a lot of my time in the air, headed to the next town, the next show,” Wilson explains on Country Nights Live with Bev Rainey. “And I find myself looking out the window, just dreaming and reminiscing. And really, the storyline of the song, it gave me an opportunity to step back into a pair of boots that I wore years ago. It’s not a sad song. It’s a great one. It feels good. It has that nostalgic feeling that ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ has, too. I tried to make sure that we kept a similar feeling.”

“Somewhere Over Laredo” may not have been written if not for Wilson’s busy career, which includes a lot of travel.

“I spend a lot of my time in the air on a plane, headed to the next town, to the next show,” Wilson tells iHeart. “And I catch myself just looking out the window and dreaming, and thinking, and reminiscing, talking to God,  writing songs. And I feel like this song right here, it gave me an opportunity to step back into a pair of shoes that I wore years ago, and I got to tell a story from that perspective. And that’s what country music is. It’s about taking you back to a certain time and place, and memory and feeling, and that’s what we wanted to capture in this song right here.”

What Lainey Wilson Said At the End of 2025

Few people had the career that Wilson had in 2025. A jam-packed year for Wilson, she is profoundly grateful to watch all of her country music dreams come true.

“Thank you so much, y’all. That’s all I have to say, is thank you, thank you, thank you,” Wilson says in a video shared on social media. “Thank you for making my dreams come true, right before my eyes. I am so humbled. I am so grateful. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. This is the only thing I know how to do. This is the only thing I want to do, and thank you all. Thank you for letting me do this. I just feel so blessed. I’m telling you right now, if it is your calling, if it is what you feel like has been placed on your heart to do, just go do it.

“There is nothing that can stop you,” she continues. “Go do it. You will find your place. No matter what that means, you will find your place. I believe it 190 percent. But I just want to tell you all that, because I feel like this is my calling. I trusted my heart, when I was just a little girl, about knowing that this was what I was supposed to do. And I’m so glad that that nine-year-old little girl was not completely crazy. I mean, she was pretty crazy, but not completely. But thank y’all.”

Photo Credit: CMA / Josh Brasted