Lainey Wilson has become one of the biggest stars in country music today, and she’s proud to see her genre achieving the success it has in 2023, with artists like Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Zach Bryan, Wilson herself and others making waves outside of Nashville with success on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard 200 albums chart.
“Cooler Than It’s Ever Been”
“I think it’s really, really awesome, to be honest with you,” Wilson told Us Weekly, crediting the success of country music in 2023 to momentum that began building in 2020.
“I think country music is cooler than it’s ever been,” she said. “…It has never not been cool. But, I think during the pandemic, people found themselves doing whatever to make them feel grounded and feel at home. And I think country music makes you feel at home.”
“Proud To Be A Part Of This Generation Of Country Music”
She continued, “I think a lot of people found themselves through country music. It feels like we’re a part of this pop culture movement right now, and it’s bigger than it’s ever been.”
Wilson added that she thinks country music is “going to keep growing” and is “so proud to be a part of this generation of country music.”
“I think years down the road, I’ll be able to look back on it and be like, ‘I was a part of that then,’” she reflected. “And I think that’s probably how many country artists from the ‘90s feel today.”
Thinks Country Music Is Returning To The ’90s Storytelling Era
Country artists and fans alike often look back fondly on the ’90s, when country music experienced a huge wave of success that also went mainstream.
“I think the same excitement is there in the ‘90s when you think about Shania Twain and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and The Chicks and Garth Brooks,” Wilson said. “You think about all those artists and that it was a movement, a real movement.”
“But the other similarity that I find, I think, is country music is about that storytelling,” she added. “I think we’re getting back to a little bit more of that, just like it was in the ‘90s.”
Wilson’s fans know that she is a fan of a good story song, referencing her recent hit with HARDY, “wait in the truck.”
“I think country radio is not afraid to play a story song,” Wilson said. “I mean, even the song that me and HARDY got to do together this year – ‘Wait in the Truck’ — I mean, it’s a murder ballad, but it’s the kind of song that they would’ve played back in the ‘90s [and] I think people were craving that and longing just to feel something.”
Unreleased New Song “Country Is Cool Again”
The singer echoed her sentiment of country music having a moment when she performed an unreleased song titled “Country Is Cool Again” during a show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado last month.
“Must be somethin’ in the water blowing out of the holler / Blue collar must have caught a new wind,” she sang. “Doggone, daggumit didn’t see that comin’ / Country is cool again.”
Earlier this month, the 31-year-old scored her latest No. 1 hit with “Watermelon Moonshine,” making her the third female artist this decade to have a solo song top the Billboard Country Airplay chart for multiple weeks as well as the first female to have the most No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart this decade and the first female artist since 2016 to earn multiple No. 1s in a single calendar year.
Additionally, Lainey Wilson is the most-nominated artist at the CMA Awards next month and is up for nine trophies, including Entertainer of the Year for the first time. She’s also currently working on a new album, which will follow 2022’s Bell Bottom Country.
