Anne Wilson has achieved more at age 23 than most people would dream of. She has solidified her name as a trailblazing music artist, securing over 2 billion global streams thus far. The young singer/songwriter has earned a coveted Grammy Award nomination and held a spot on Morgan Wallen’s highly ambitious I’m The Problem stadium tour.
But Wilson’s personal life has been far from easy. At 15 years old, the Platinum-certified artist was overcome with grief when a car accident took her brother Jacob’s life. But, through the turmoil, Wilson leaned into her faith more than ever and found a connection to her late sibling through music.
For Wilson, music has taken her to places she could have never imagined. Her albums, such as 2022’s My Jesus and 2024’s Rebel, have reached the hearts of folks from both the Christian and country music communities, respectively.
Now, fans are finally getting the full range of Wilson’s artistry with the release of her new album, Stars, her most panoramic portrait yet. The deeply personal 12-track project, produced by Jeff Pardo with select contributions from Jonathan Smith and Ross Copperman, debuted on Friday, Oct. 17 via Capitol Christian Music Group.
“This record is really important to me in so many ways,” Wilson told Music Mayhem of the coming-of-age album, which finds her listed in the songwriting credits on every track and is rooted in grief, growth, and the relentless pursuit of honesty. “It’s my third album, and I’m 23 now. I’ve experienced so much life since my brother passed away in 2017… Stars captures what I’ve been through in the last few years, the struggles, and the healing, especially this past year.”
Wilson’s current age finds her reflecting more than ever on her brother’s life, as he was only 23 when he passed. The song on Stars aptly titled “Twenty Three” pays a heartfelt tribute to Jacob, with Wilson sharing the lyrics, “Boy, you ran that road right out / Made the most of every second God gave you / And I’ll be lucky to live half the life with the time that He gives me / Than all the years you fit in only twenty-three.”
“Turning 23 was big for me,” Wilson explains of her birthday this year. “It was this realization that I was going to live longer than my brother ever got to. I wanted to write about the grief of that—and how I was feeling.”
Meanwhile, the emotional centerpiece of the project, the title track “Stars,” which also serves as the album opener, takes listeners back to Wilson’s childhood dreams. The mesmerizing song, penned with Pardo and Matthew West, dropped in September as a preview for the collection, and plays out as a metaphor with the Lexington, Kentucky native longing for something greater and finding her true calling through the gravity of loss.
“It’s about growing up wanting to be an astronaut, wanting to work for NASA, and then realizing that God had a lot of other dreams for me—it ended up being music,” Wilson says.
But the change in direction, she adds, wouldn’t have happened without her brother.
“His passing led me into music. I don’t think I’ll ever stop writing songs about Jacob because grief doesn’t disappear. When you lose someone like that, there’s a missing piece to you forever.”
Songs like “God’s Story” focus on redemption, with Wilson sharing her gratitude for seeing the light at the end of a dark tunnel.
“My life is a God story / Gotta tell the world what He’s done for me / Miracle on miracles that only He could do / I’m proof that we’re all only one prayer away from a testimony / There’s only One getting all the glory / My whole life is a God story (God story),” she sings the lyrics of the song, written with Pardo and West.
“God Story was me reflecting on my life since my brother passed and realizing how far I’ve come,” Wilson acknowledges. “When you’re in the middle of pain, you can’t see past it. But later, you look back and realize God was writing a story all along—something better than anything I could write for myself.”
Perhaps the most emotionally raw song on Stars is the stripped-back and piano-laden “Carry Me,” which Wilson describes as a response to recent national tragedies.
“With everything that happened in our country—the shootings and all the tragic stuff—we were all in a heavy place,” she explains. “This song captures that moment of being at the end of our rope and crying out, ‘God, I need you to carry me.’”
“Even after writing it five months ago, I can’t hear it without crying,” she shares, admitting that it’s still difficult to listen to. “It’s the most vulnerable song I’ve ever written.”
Despite the spiritual undertone, the tough singer/songwriter believes its message resonates broadly, saying, “Even people that aren’t in the faith space can relate. It’s not a faith-heavy song—it’s just honest.”
Naturally, much of Stars finds Wilson leaning heavily into her Christian roots, but she also makes plenty of room for the country genre. Songs like “Hold Your Horses,” “Jesus on the Radio,” and “Dead in the Water” offer that twangy, Western flair that is just as authentically her as her spiritually-driven tracks. She seamlessly blends the two genres, but what stands out even more is the effortless way she weaves together the storytelling aspect of country music.
“The Carpenter” paints a rustic and rural picture of her grandparents work ethic while sharing the word in the chorus with the lyrics: “Let me tell you ’bout a man whose hands built more than I ever could / He set a world off the rails on track with some nails going into wood / He bore a cross that built a bridge / Ain’t no broken that He can’t fix / He can mend where you hurt / Let Him in and let Him get to work / He’s the Carpenter.”
In “Jesus On The Radio,” Wilson, who wrote the song alongside Pardo, West, and Trannie Anderson, captures the spirit of the one above in country music, name-checking songs like Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take The Wheel” and Rascal Flatts’ “Bless the Broken Road,” and reminding listeners that the two genres aren’t that different.
“I’m a person of faith, and I love the sound of country music. Every album I’ve made reflects whatever season I’m in,” Wilson shared. “Sometimes it’s more country, sometimes more worship—this one is both.”
Having previously toured with Wallen has also put Wilson in front of an even larger country audience, but she says she hasn’t redirected her way of performing as she continues to remain consistent in how she entertains the audience every time.
“Playing in a stadium for the first time and getting to be myself—that was a moment I’ll never forget,” Wilson, who has over 2 billion career streams, said. “I sang the same set I’d do at a church or my own show. Just being authentically me.”
“Most of my fans are people going through grief,” she added. “One of my favorite stories is from when ‘My Jesus’ came out in 2021. A man messaged me saying his son had died 25 years ago, and he and his wife had never been able to move on—until they heard my song. That’s why I do this.”
In addition to her music, Wilson is reaching young girls through her 40-day devotional, Hey Girl: You Are Seen, Loved, and Made for More.
“It’s for middle and high school girls. It’s a great way to just continue a little girl’s faith and journey of really knowing her worth in Christ. A reminder of their identity in Christ—that their worth doesn’t come from bullies or social media, but from Jesus,” she notes. “It’s truly rooted in who Jesus calls her to be. So I pray that this devotional encourages and inspires these young girls.”
While she’s accomplished more than most artists her age, Wilson is in no way slowing down. She says, “I think for the next year I’m going to be writing some more. And we have a lot coming up next year that we can’t share just yet. But next year’s going to be a really special year.”
In the meantime, folks can find Wilson on her 9-date headlining run, the Stars Tour, which launched on Oct. 18 in Nashville, Tenn., at The Pinnacle. The trek runs through Nov. 23, 2025, where it will wrap with a show in Greensboro, N.C., at Steven Tanger Center.
For more information about Anne Wilson’s upcoming tour dates and her new album, visit her official website: www.annewilsonofficial.com.
