Lainey Wilson Credits Her Parents for Her Success

Lainey Wilson is seemingly doing everything right in the country music landscape. She’s already won seven Country Music Association Awards, including winning their top honor Entertainer of the Year in 2023, the Best Country Album at the 2024 Grammy Award’s for Bell Bottom Country, and six Academy of Country Music Awards. She’s also recently made her acting debut in the massively successful Yellowstone.

Like many great country stars, Lainey has a very public love for her parents. Who are the two that brought Lainey Wilson up in a very small Louisiana town?

Lainey comes from Baskin, La., a town with the most recent census population of 254. That’s a whopping 26 percent population growth from when Lainey was growing up. It was only 188 in 2000.

Lainey was born in 1992 to Brian Wilson (not the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson) and Michelle Wilson (not the Tony nominated actress). Brian worked as a fifth-generation farmer and Michelle as a schoolteacher. It’ll be tough to find a more all-American background for a country music superstar.

Lainey’s love of country comes from her family. In a June 22, 2020 profile on The Boot, it’s noted that her dad played guitar daily and her mother loved to dance. Lainey saw her future at nine years old on her first trip to the Grand Ole Opry. “I’m a proud Louisianan and always will be, but from a very early age I’ve had stars in my eyes for the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, and I’d like to think that little twinkle helped propel me toward following my dreams and continues to keep me reaching further.”

The Advocate reported that on Valentine’s Day 2020, Lainey’s entire family was back at the Grand Ole Opry for Lainey’s debut at the legendary theater.

Between seeing that first show at the Opry to performing there, Lainey’s dad helped teach her her first guitar chords at the age of 11. According to her artist bio, Lainey’s dad also helped her move from Baskin to Nashville: “After finishing high school, Wilson left Louisiana for Nashville; her first home in Music City was a trailer her father set in the parking lot of a recording studio, where the manager helped support the aspiring artist by giving her an electrical hook up.”

Throughout Lainey’s rise on the charts and in the public eye, her parents have been there every step of the way. When Lainey won the Female Vocalist of the Year award at the 56th Annual Country Music Awards in November 2022, she took her dad as her date. Lainey spoke about him on stage while accepting the award.

“A few months ago, my daddy got real sick and we thought we were gonna lose him,” she said from the stage. “He spent two months in ICU, he’s walking the carpet with me tonight. He’s here. This one right here’s for my daddy.”

The sickness Lainey was referencing was a fungal infection that led to the removal of his left eye, as well as bones from his face. He also suffered a stroke.

In a June 28, 2023 interview with People, she said. “He’s not supposed to be here, and he is. When he was a little boy, he used to roll a picnic table out on the side of the highway and stand on top of it with his guitar and pretend that he was Glen Campbell for the cars passing by. So, he’s getting to live vicariously through me, and I’m so glad and so thankful that he is around to see the things that are happening right now. He’s real proud.”

Lainey’s mom can also be seen on red carpets and on stage. She was Lainey’s date to the 2023 BMI Country Awards and took a shot with her daughter on stage in June 2023.