Lainey Wilson proved why she is more than worthy of her CMA Entertainer Of The Year nomination during her concert at the iconic Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth on Friday (Sept. 8).
The “Watermelon Moonshine” singer was faced with a significant technical challenge when lightning struck the venue’s sound equipment, resulting in a sound outage during her set at “The World’s Largest Honky Tonk.”
The Show Must Go On
Addressing the audience with a sense of humor and grace, Wilson acknowledged the issue and told the capacity crowd, “So clearly, we are having some technical difficulties… I don’t even know if y’all can hear me.”
In true showbiz fashion, Wilson didn’t let the brief outage dampen her performance. With a resilience reminiscent of country legends who know the show must go on, Wilson grabbed a megaphone and kept the audience entertained as she and her band waited for the sound system to work again.
Instead of giving in to the technical difficulties, the country superstar went on to deliver an impressive cover of Keith Whitley’s timeless tune, “When You Say Nothing At All.”
Her ability to engage the audience and maintain the energy of the show during such challenges further solidifies her status as an emerging force in country music, deserving of her accolades and nominations. It’s moments like these that showcase the true grit and artistry of performers like Lainey Wilson.
Randy Travis Also Surprised During The Show
The concert eventually continued after the sound system was restored, and Wilson performed not only her chart-topping hits such as “Heart Like A Truck” and “Things A Man Oughta Know” but also surprised the audience with an appearance by country music icon, Randy Travis.
“It ain’t every night you get to bring out the legend @therandytravis nor sing through a megaphone but we covered both of those last night at @billybobstexas 😂 📢” Wilson wrote on social media. ”Thank y’all for your patience while we waited for the power to kick back on…guess ya could say lightning likes us these days.”
Wilson’s Billy Bob’s performance comes after she dominated the nominations for the 57th Annual CMA Awards and made history along the way.
The reigning CMA Female Vocalist and New Artist Of The Year made CMA Awards history again this year as the only artist to top the nominations list in her first two appearances on the Final Ballot.
Last year, the “Heart Like A Truck” singer topped the list of nominees with six nominations as a first-time nominee.
Nine CMA Nominations
This year, Wilson earned a whopping nine nominations, including the coveted Entertainer Of The Year, Single Of The Year (“Wait In The Truck” with HARDY & “Heart Like A Truck”), Album Of The Year (‘Bell Bottom Country’), Song Of The Year (“Heart Like A Truck”), Female Vocalist Of The Year, Musical Event Of The Year (“Save Me” with Jelly Roll and “Wait In The Truck” with HARDY) and Music Video Of The Year (“Wait In The Truck” with HARDY).
Reacts To Historic Success At CMA Awards
Upon hearing the news of her historic nominations, Wilson took to social media to showcase gratitude and share her reaction with fans.
“Holy moly y’all. Someone pinch me. I can’t believe my eyes. 🥹 I’m so proud of everything we’ve done this year for my own music and these collabs with my brothers @hardy and @jellyroll615,” she wrote.
She continued, ”Thank y’all for having me on these songs ❤️ Being nominated in each of these categories amongst my friends means the world to me. And the coveted Entertainer Of The Year category?! It’s absolutely surreal. We bust our butts out there on the road every dang night to give y’all the best show possible and I have the time of my life doing it. All I gotta say is thank y’all. I love country music 🤘🏻”
CMA Awards History
Wilson is the fourth artist in CMA Awards history to receive nine or more nominations in a single year, following Merle Haggard and Miranda Lambert as well as Alan Jackson, who holds the record with 10 nominations in 2002.
She is also the first artist in 14 years to secure double nominations for Single Of The Year in the same year with “Heart Like a Truck” and her collaboration with HARDY on “Wait in the Truck.” Miranda Lambert was the last artist to achieve such recognition in the category in 2010, when she was nominated for “The House That Built Me” and “White Liar.”
Fans can tune into the 2023 CMA Awards in November to see if Wilson will take home the trophies. Co-hosted by country superstar Luke Bryan and National Football League Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, the 57th Annual CMA Awards will air live from Nashville on Wednesday, November 8 at 8/7c on ABC.
