Gabby Barrett is living the life she once dreamed about. The American Idol alum, who came in third on Season 16 of the show in 2018, has since released her debut Goldmine album, scored two No. 1 hits, with “I Hope” and “The Good Ones,” and won numerous awards, including an ACM Award for New Female Artist of the Year, and three Billboard Music Awards.
“It’s overwhelming but in the best way,” Barrett tells Entertainment Tonight. “This is one of those things where it’s hard to put into words because it doesn’t really feel real. When you work for so long towards something and it actually happens, it’s hard for me to switch gears because I’ve just been in the mode of trying to get to these places, getting on the award, and getting number one songs. Now that you’re actually at the pit stop, ‘We’re here, we’re making a stop.’ It’s like ‘Whoa!’ It’s really cool.”
Barrett might have worked hard to get to where she already is, but she had no idea her successes would come so quickly, and consistently.
“I had no idea this was going to happen,” Barrett admits. “Ever since getting off American Idol and hitting back at the ground, moving to Nashville and diving into everything and working hard to get a record deal, writing songs, and really getting into the community, the music industry has been absolutely wonderful towards me, which is extremely humbling. I’m very blessed for that.”
Barrett was emotional after accepting her first of three trophies last night, for Top Country Female Artist.
“This means so much to me, I’ve been performing for 10 years, really hard,” she said from stage. “We’ve worked so hard to get here.”
“Thank you, guys, so much,” she continued. “You make dreams come true, this has changed my life forever. I’ve never done this before…thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Barrett’s whirlwind few years also include marrying fellow Idol contestant Cade Foehner in 2019, and having a baby, daughter Baylah May, in January.
“When I first got married, that changed me in a lot of different ways,” Barrett acknowledges. “It makes you grow up in a lot of different ways and then when you have a baby you grow up in even more ways. My husband and I are very large Christians and we’re very firm in our beliefs. There is a term in the Christian faith called ‘dying to yourself’ and definitely when you have a baby you learn to die to yourself and everything is just about them. And it’s actually really helpful because you definitely become more selfless and help other people in a lot of different ways.”
Barrett has been open about her Christian faith and how that impacts her music.
“There’s definitely things that I stray from just because my husband [Cade Foehner] and I are very Bible-centered people,” Barrett previously told Everything Nash. “We believe that to be our all, and that’s what we lean upon the most. And so whatever the Bible talks about, whatever we think is appropriate often that is we will sing about. So I’m not the girl that’s going to be singing about drinking, just because that’s just not how I am as a person. This album is made up of things that I believe, and things that I want to say.”
Barrett will hit the road this summer, serving as the opening act on Thomas Rhett’s Center Point Road Tour. See a list of all of her upcoming shows at GabbyBarrett.com.
