Lainey Wilson: The Promise She Made To Ashley McBryde
Lainey Wilson said she was in Nashville for eleven years trying to make her dreams come true before she made the big time and became one of country music’s biggest…
Lainey Wilson said she was in Nashville for eleven years trying to make her dreams come true before she made the big time and became one of country music's biggest stars today. Lainey often talks about knowing and working with Luke Combs before the two were touring together this year on his stadium tour. Wilson also had some time with Ashley McBryde, who was quite kind to her on the way up.
In a recent interview, Lainey told me of McBryde's kindness, "She's a dear friend to me. And there's this one story that I always think about when I think of Ashley. We were somewhere on the road, I believe, in Texas. And we were sitting on the bus. We had a little bit of whiskey, and she grabbed my hand, and she was like lightning. She said, 'I want to help you over this wall.' And she said, 'I want literally help you any way that I possibly can. But you got to promise me that when you find somebody who you love and believe in as much as I do, you, that you will do the same exact thing.'"
Wilson added, "Now, that is the beauty of this town (Nashville) because there are people like that, and I absolutely plan on being that for somebody one day."
RELATED: Lainey Wilson Was Writing About The Hard Stuff At Age Ten
Lainey recently made a young girl's dream come true, and the little girl might be getting a pony to boot. While on stage at a show in St. Louis on June 17, Lainey brought a little blonde girl named Finley on stage. Wilson read her sign: "Lainey, my dad bet me a pony if I get to get on stage at my first-ever country concert."
One fan captured the sweet moment on TikTok. In the video clip, Lainey sees the sign, gets it, reads it, then tells security to let the little girl, who looked about five years old, on stage. The girl comes on stage and starts to cry as Lainey hugs her and says, "Looks like you're getting a pony." Wilson then calls out in the crowd looking for where her daddy is, and says, "She's gonna get a pony now, hate to tell ya, but she's gonna get it, like, tomorrow."
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.
