Lainey Wilson's Cooling the Nation
In March, Lainey Wilson played Australia for the first time and met its animal ambassadors: a koala and a kangaroo. Not all was furry joy.
“I got crapped on by a bird twice,” Wilson recounts in her thick Louisiana drawl, shaking her head in confusion. The exact same place. I heard it was lucky, so I said, "Go ahead." Do what you must, bird.
Wilson doesn't need luck. The 31-year-old country diva has made her mark with her songs and dedication. After moving to Nashville in 2011, Wilson faced a decade of disappointment,
including seven American Idol rejections. In the past two-and-a-half years, she has broken records and reached new milestones at an incredible pace without abandoning her country sound.
In December, her urgent duet with Jelly Roll, “Save Me,” reached No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart, six weeks after her solo hit, “Watermelon Moonshine,” had topped the list.
This was the shortest gap between No. 1s for a female artist in the chart's 34-year history. “Watermelon Moonshine” appeared on Wilson's 2022 album Bell Bottom Country (Broken Bow Records/BMG),
which won the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and Country Music Association Awards for album of the year and the Grammy for best country album, becoming the ninth record to do so.
Wilson became the first woman to win entertainer of the year since Taylor Swift in 2011 and the first artist since Garth Brooks in 1991 to win best new artist then entertainer of the year at the November CMA Awards.