Get to know country superstar Lainey Wilson

She's a GRAMMY and CMA Award-winning superstar; she's the reigning CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year - and she gave a powerhouse performance as headliner at Country to Country Festival in March 2025. Not only that, but she even hosted and performed at the CMA Awards 2025, where she took home a whopping THREE gongs at the ceremony.

From her incredible albums, to hit songs and blossoming career, here's everything you need to know about the country star as we enjoy watching Lainey Wilson's career in country music go from strength to strength.

Who is Lainey Wilson?

Lainey Wilson is a highly-acclaimed American country singer-songwriter from Baskin, Louisiana in the US.

How old is she?

She was born on 19th May 1992, making her 33-years-old.

Lainey Wilson’s early life

Lainey grew up alongside her parents and younger sister, Janna, in Baskin, Louisiana.

She became interested in music at a young age, attending the Grand Ole Opry at age nine furthering her interest. She began writing songs in her preteens, releasing her first EP on MySpace in 2006 titled 'Country Girls Rule'.

In high school, she took up her very first job impersonating Hannah Montana at birthday parties, fairs and festivals across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

2011: First years in Nashville

Lainey moved to Nashville, Tennessee in August 2011 after finishing high school to chase her dreams of becoming a country music artist.

Trying to make her own way, she lived in a camper trailer outside of a recording studio in Nashville, while performing a variety of small shows.

In 2014, she released a self-titled album on the Cupit label that was followed by her 2016 album 'Tougher'. The second record release helped her gain traction on the American country albums chart making its way to the Billboard Top Country Albums play - and even led to her signing her first publishing deal with Sony/ATV.

2019: Lainey's breakout years in country music

Signing a major-label recording contract with the BBR Music Group in 2019 saw the beginning of her breakout success, with her major label single ‘Dirty Looks’.

As a result of her growing success, Lainey toured with Morgan Wallen in 2019, with her songs also being featured in the Paramount Network show Yellowstone that same year.

Her third studio album ‘Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ included her two breakout singles ‘Dirty Looks’ and ‘Things a Man Oughta Know’. The tracks gained heavy media attention, reaching Number 1 on Billboard Country Airplay and Number 3 on Hot Country Songs.

2021-2022: Support act to Jason Aldean and CMA Awards

Making her ongoing mark, Lainey appeared as a supporting act on Jason Aldean’s ‘Back in the Saddle Tour’ in 2021 and collaborated with Cole Swindell on his single ‘Never Say Never’, which was released as the second single from Cole’s fourth studio album 'Stereotype'.

This was followed by her 2022 single 'Heart Like a Truck' and then came the 'Bell Bottom Country' album in the same year.

She received a groundbreaking six nominations at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards, becoming the fourth artist to receive six or more nominations as a first-time nominee.

She also joined the cast of Yellowstone in 2022, appearing in five episodes in the fifth season of the show as local musician, Abby, following her music being used as the soundtrack around 2019.

2023: CMA Awards milestone

Her success continued into 2023, receiving a leading nine nominations at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2023, winning five - including the top honour Entertainer of the Year, making her the first woman to win the gong since Taylor Swift in 2009.

2024: Her latest album release

Lainey Wilson released her fifth studio album 'Whirlwind' on 23rd August 2024. The album included 'Hang Tight Honey' as the lead single, peaking at Number 13 on the US Billboard Country Airplay charts.

The album was a huge success, hitting Number 2 on Billboard's The 10 Best Country Albums of 2024, as well as Number 8 on Rolling Stone's The 30 Best Country Albums of 2024 and Number 5 on The 10 Best Country Albums of 2024.

Undoubtedly a woman of many talents, Lainey co-wrote all 14 tracks on 'Whirlwind'.

In 2025, the album even bagged a nomination for Best Country Album at the GRAMMY Awards. Despite losing out to Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter', Lainey lit up the stage as she performed the track 'Let the Good Times Roll' - in a tribute to the late Quincy Jones.

2025: Engagement and 'Whirlwind World Tour'

Lainey shared the wonderful news in February 2025 that she'd gotten engaged to former NFL player Devlin "Duck" Hodges, having been quietly dating since 2021 before making their first appearance together in May 2023 at the ACM Awards.

She then embarked on her 'Whirlwind World Tour' in March 2025, beginning in Zurich, Switzerland on 4th March 2025 with performances in Europe, the UK and Ireland, North America, Canada, before she finishes up in Orlando, Florida in November 2025.

2025: ACM Awards

Lainey's incredible run at the 2024 ACM Awards didn't stop there - she picked up a whopping FOUR awards at 2025's ceremony from six nominations! Lainey took home Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year for 'Whirlwind', Female Artist of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year.

Not only that, but she took to the stage to perform her new album's title track, 'Whirlwind', later performing 'Trailblazer' with Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert. The line-up also included Eric Church, Ella Langley and Keith Urban among many others.

2025: Lainey is already working on her sixth album

After releasing the deluxe version of her fifth album 'Whirlwind' in August 2025, Lainey revealed that she's already working on her sixth record! Speaking to Taste of Country, Lainey was asked whether she's got any new music in the pipeline, and she replied: "Always. Always. I mean, I'm already working on the next record."

When asked when we might expect it to land, she said: "Hopefully, that's right around the corner," adding: "I feel like I have to think way ahead, because we are already talking about, 'What does 2027 look like?'

"We have everything mapped out because everything just moves so quick and time is just like, poof, gone. You gotta make sure that you're taking the time to write the songs and taking the time to be in the studio, but also taking the time to live so you can write the songs."

2025: Hosting CMA Awards

Lainey was announced in October 2025 as the host of the CMA Awards, which took place on 19th November at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. She was also nominated for a whopping six awards - tied as the most nominated at the ceremony with Ella Langley and Megan Moroney.

Lainey was up for Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for 'Whirlwind', Single of the Year and Song of the Year for '4x4xU' and Music Video of the Year for 'Somewhere Over Laredo', taking home the first three of those.

She also performed an incredible set throughout the night, including: 'Hosting Monologue Medley', 'White Horse' with Charlie Worsham, 'Hillbilly Deluxe', 'You Look Like You Love Me', 'Redneck Woman', 'Need You Now', 'Gunpowder and Lead', 'A Bar Song (Tipsy)', 'Girl Crush' with Little Big Town, 'Where The Blacktop Ends' with Keith Urban and 'Ring Finger'.

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