Lainey Wilson is heading into this weekend’s Grammy Awards with two nominations. The Louisiana native is nominated for Country Album Of The Year, for her Bell Bottom Country album, as well as Country Duo/Group Performance for “Save Me” with Jelly Roll.
Wilson has already had a lot of accolades, including being named the Entertainer of the Year at the recent CMA Awards, but she admits it’s an entirely new — and exhilarating — feeling to be nominated for a Grammy.
“It’s a huge deal to be recognized by the people that you look up to,” Wilson says on Audacy’s Totally Private. “I’m going to be in a building with people from so many different walks of life and so many different stories, and just a lot of hard work in the building.”
Wilson will be part of an in-person audience that includes music stars of all genres, including two who she admits would make her incredibly starstruck.
“I’m not gonna lie, if I see Adele, even Bruno Mars. There’s a lot of people. I’ll probably be like, ‘How in the world is this little redneck in a room with these folks?’ It’s gonna be awesome.”
Wilson’s now-famous rags-to-riches story includes living in a camper for several years in Nashville, struggling to make ends meet while working on getting her music heard.
“There were a lot of moments where I definitely just should have packed it up and moved home, when I was living in my camper,” Wilson acknowledges. “This year, I’ll have been here for 13 years. I moved here August 1, 2011. There was never a moment where I was like, ‘Okay, it’s time to just turn it around and go back home to Louisiana.’
“I knew there were a lot of folks back home who just thought I was absolutely crazy, and they were wondering when I was going to pack it up and come back home,” she continues. “But I really have always had this sense of peace about knowing that I was given this gift and I’m supposed to use it.”
Wilson might have given up if not for the unwavering support of her parents, who encouraged her to keep going, even when conventional wisdom might have suggested otherwise.
“I’m just so thankful that I stuck in there and I’m thankful I’ve had people in my life who have encouraged me to stick it out,” Wilson says. “My mama and daddy, they have been nothing but supportive. It took me a long time to find my team, and my family here in Nashville. But when I did, at that point I felt like, ‘All right, now I feel like I can really do this thing.”
Wilson also had support from her Nashville friends, many of whom were also aspiring singer-songwriters.
“You can’t do it without community,” Wilson says. “So many of my friends in this town also grew up with the same dream as me, and I think that’s why I love Nashville. There are so many like-minded people. Everybody’s got stars in their eyes. It’s just a really exciting place to be. I feel like I just got so much in common with people here.”
Wilson will headline two tours in 2024, both her global Lainey Wilson: LIVE Tour, and her Country’s Cool Again Tour. She is also working on new music, but vows she isn’t wavering from the music — or the person — her fans have grown to love.
“I will always stay true to myself and my roots and where I come from,” the 31-year-old says. “I am who I am because of the people and place that raised me.”
The 2024 Grammy Awards will air on Sunday, February 4, from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The ceremony will also air live at 8:00 PM ET on CBS, and will also stream on Parmount+.
