Lainey Wilson caught up with Billboard's Melinda Newman on the Winners Walk at the ACM Awards 2024.
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00 We're with Lainey Wilson, who is one of the evening's big winner,
00:04 Female Artist of the Year, Music Event of the Year with Jelly Roll,
00:09 and Entertainer of the Year.
00:11 Can you believe that?
00:12 I can. Can you?
00:14 I can believe it. I can believe it because if you don't believe it,
00:17 who else is going to believe it, right?
00:19 That's kind of how I feel about it.
00:21 So after you won CMA Entertainer of the Year, were you like,
00:25 "Oh, this is real. This can keep happening"?
00:27 For sure. I will say, when I looked at everybody that was nominated for it,
00:34 I was like, "Every single one of these guys, they've taken me under their wing in some way."
00:38 Whether they took me out on the road with them, or wrote a song with me,
00:43 or asked me to be on a song with them.
00:45 I mean, Luke Combs used to come over and we'd write together.
00:48 It's just crazy because that's what it's about.
00:50 It's about helping each other over that wall.
00:52 And I'm excited to be able to do that.
00:55 Okay, but the key word is "guys."
00:57 The key word is "guys," and we're going to have some girls coming in hot.
01:01 It's still not where it needs to be. I feel a little bit of a shift.
01:04 But, yeah, there still needs to be a lot more change.
01:09 So you just got back from Europe.
01:11 Yes.
01:12 And then you were in Australia before that.
01:13 Yes.
01:14 What did you feel in terms of, you were going global.
01:17 Yeah.
01:18 And you were singing in countries where English isn't their first language.
01:21 Yes.
01:22 And you're hearing your songs sometimes.
01:23 Yes.
01:24 Does that make you feel like you're growing?
01:26 Well, it just goes to show what country music is doing right now,
01:29 and I'm, like, proud to be a part of that time.
01:33 It's about those stories.
01:34 It's about the storytelling.
01:36 It's funny because my sister called me and she said,
01:38 "Can anybody understand you over there?"
01:40 I said, "Hell, they don't understand me anywhere else either.
01:42 What's the difference?
01:43 There's a language barrier everywhere."
01:46 Were you sitting with your mom?
01:47 I was sitting with my mama.
01:48 Okay, because I didn't know if that was your mom for sure.
01:50 Yeah.
01:51 What did she say to you when you were an entertainer of the year?
01:54 When I went back to my seat, she was holding me, and we were both crying,
01:59 and she said, "I believed it, I believed it, I believed it."
02:02 She believed it before--I mean, I was her entertainer of every year.
02:07 I thought I was, like, trying to get my composure.
02:09 Yeah.
02:10 A little bit.
02:11 That is beautiful.
02:12 Yeah.
02:13 So how are you going to celebrate?
02:14 I'm going to celebrate with my mom and my daddy's here.
02:16 He's feeling great.
02:18 Yeah, just be with my people.
02:20 Do you have a ritual now?
02:21 You've been winning so much.
02:22 Is it like, "Okay, when I win, I go have a steak, I go do a shot of tequila"?
02:28 Do you have a ritual?
02:29 I mean, I'm going to have a couple drinks, but before I do anything,
02:31 I'm about to have some food because your girl is hungry, okay?
02:36 I want a quesadilla or I want something.
02:39 And then are you in heels?
02:40 And I want to take these shoes off.
02:41 I've got plantar fasciitis.
02:44 So you're in pain.
02:45 I'm in pain, but hey, you know what?
02:47 You do what you've got to do, right?
02:49 Happy Big Yarn Day. (laughing)