These days, it’s hard to remember when reigning ACM entertainer of the year Lainey Wilson wasn’t one of country music’s biggest stars.
But you can trace the beginning of her meteoric rise to March 2022 at the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards.
“It was song of the year with ‘Things a Man Oughta Know,”” Lainey recalls, “and I just remember thinking, like, ‘Oh my gosh, these people who I look up to and people who I value their opinion thought that this was the song that deserved to be recognized this year.””
“And that right there just made me feel like, ‘Alright, maybe I really can do this,’ you know?”
Lainey also won new female artist that night. This year, the possibility of hanging on to her entertainer title is just one of her seven nominations for Thursday night’s ACM Awards.
“That’d be nice, but have you looked at the competition?” she laughs. “It’s crazy, it’s crazy.”
Lainey is set to debut an original song with two fellow superstars, designed to pay tribute to the show’s six decades.
“I’m getting to do a song with Reba [McEntire] and Miranda [Lambert], which I’m so excited about,” she tells ABC Audio. “It’s a song that me and Miranda and Brandy Clark wrote together for me, Miranda and Reba to do.”
“And it’s called ‘Trailblazer,”” she continues. “I mean, I’m very partial, but I don’t want to say too much about it. It’s special.”
Tune in as Reba hosts the 60th ACMs live from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, starting at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
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