Lainey Wilson Is ‘Proud’ of Her ‘Humble Beginnings’: Inside Her ‘Hard Times’ Before Fame

Hang tight, honey! Lainey Wilson is taking the country music scene by storm. The “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” singer, 32, won Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country at the 2023 CMA Awards and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry by Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks in June.

It was a “dream come true” for the small-town Louisiana girl. “When I moved to Nashville, I lived in a camper trailer for three years,” she recalled. “Had some real hard times.”

Lainey also experienced “a lot of rejection, a lot of heartache” while trying to make a name for herself in Tennessee. “[I would be] crying my eyes out, thinking, ‘Is it ever going to happen?’ ” she confessed. “But Mama and Daddy didn’t raise no quitter.”

It may have taken her “10 or 11 years,” but Lainey finally found the success she was chasing. She’s headlining her own cross-country tour, opening a new bar and restaurant, Bell Bottoms Up, in Nashville and releasing a new album called Whirlwind
on August 23.

And yet Lainey hasn’t let all that fame and fortune go to her head. “She’s never run away from her humble beginnings,” says a source. “She’s proud of who she was and who she’s become. Sure, she has a few famous friends now, but for her, it has always been about the music.”