Today’s country music superstars didn’t get to where they are without some help from past artists. Bailey Zimmerman, Kelsea Ballerini, and Lainey Wilson have all been open about the singers who’ve inspired them, their music, and their careers. Read on to see what they had to say.
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Bailey Zimmerman
Bailey Zimmerman shot onto the country music scene in 2021 when he went viral on TikTok. His tracks “Fall in Love” and “Rock and a Hard Place” hit No. 1 on country radio the following year. Zimmerman’s debut LP, Religiously: The Album, came out in 2023.
Though his success was as overnight as they come, his love for country music dates back years.
“My dad owned a trucking business and would haul cars across the United States. We would get up at 3 a.m. and do these drives, and he would always have country music playing,” Zimmerman told Billboard in 2022. “One of the big country songs when I was growing up was Craig Morgan’s ‘Wake Up Lovin’ You.’ My dad loved that song and would turn it up any time it came on.”
As for his mom, she brought him to see rock band Tesla when he was 12, he told the outlet.
That varied taste made him a fan of artists including Morgan Wade and Morgan Wallen, the latter of whom he wound up touring with. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times ahead of the release of his sophomore album, Different Night Same Rodeo, he revealed he was a fan of SZA, Justin Bieber, and Kid Laroi.
Kelsea Ballerini
Since she released The First Time in 2015, Kelsea Ballerini has become a country music darling. A five-time Grammy nominee, Ballerini has a pop-country style that appeals to the masses. It’s no surprise then that fellow genre-defying singer Kelly Clarkson has been a big inspiration for Ballerini.
“She’s my favorite of all-time—my favorite artist,” Ballerini told Billboard in 2016. “People are always so surprised by that. I think that she’s the best vocalist in the whole world.”
In the same interview, Ballerini cited Nick Jonas, Lady A, and Taylor Swift as other inspirations.
“I’m still such a fangirl. It’s so much fun,” Ballerini said. “I remember telling myself when I got to start having artist opportunities, ‘Let yourself be a fan, because you are. The minute that you walk in a room with Carrie Underwood and you’re too cool to freak out, you need to check yourself.’”
Lainey Wilson
Lainey Wilson is one of the biggest stars in country music today. The CMA and Grammy Award winner didn’t get to where she is today without learning from some stars that came before her.
Chatting with Marie Claire, Wilson revealed that Tim McGraw’s A Place in the Sun was the first album she bought. “Tim McGraw was my first concert too,” she said. “He’s a fellow Louisianian, so I was always proud and inspired by him.”
As for other inspirations, Wilson told the outlet that Lee Ann Womack, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, The Chicks, and Keith Whitley all fit the bill.
As her career has grown, Wilson has gotten acting opportunities, too. She appeared on the show Yellowstone and will star in the upcoming film Reminders of Him. As she takes on more projects, Wilson told Entertainment Tonight that she keeps two country legends in mind.
“When I think about the kind of artist I want to be,” Wilson said, “I think about people like Reba [McEntire] and Dolly Parton and the ones that always kept music at the forefront, but they weren’t scared to kind of color outside of the lines.”
Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for ABA
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