Lainey Wilson is still reeling from being the most nominated artist at the 2023 CMA Awards, but she knows it’s the result of an immense amount of hard work and dedication to her craft. Wilson has been nominated for nine awards: Album of the Year for Bell Bottom Country, Female Vocalist of the Year, two for Single of the Year for “Heart Like a Truck” and her duet with HARDY on “Wait in the Truck,” Song of the Year for “Heart Like a Truck,” two for Musical Event of the Year for “Save Me” with Jelly Roll and “Wait in the Truck,” Music Video of the Year for “Wait in the Truck,” and the night’s top prize Entertainer of the Year.
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“I don’t know if you completely do wrap your head around it,” Wilson shared at a recent Nashville press event about her several nominations. She added that she still gets “butterflies” thinking about being the most nominated artist.
Wilson said watching the CMA Awards was a “big deal” in her household growing up in Louisiana. “I would dream about being a part of the industry and being down there on the floor with these people who I look up to and people who have paved the way,” she explained. The country superstar said her success is also a result of prayer and manifestation, often envisioning herself living the life she has now.
“It’s crazy how life works because the truth is, I think sometimes you gotta envision yourself in certain places and sometimes pretend you are what you’re not really so one day you can become that,” she continued. “Now these people, they’re my friends, they’re my mentors. They’re people that I can call and get advice from and I think it’s because I prayed about it and manifested it and put myself there, because there was no other option for me. I knew it with every fiber of my being. I’ve had a weird sense of peace about it.”
Wilson admitted that while she’s stunned about being nominated for Entertainer of the Year, she also acknowledges the amount of shows she’s played to get to this point. She noted how she started off 2023 headlining a club tour, followed by an opening slot on Luke Combs‘ stadium-sized World Tour, and is currently on the road with HARDY’s the mockingbird & THE CROW” Fall Tour, in addition to playing, “every fair and festival in between.”
“To be considered for Entertainer of the Year, of course, there’s times I’m like, ‘How did that happen?’ But when you think about the amount of shows that we have played this year and last year, we have played a lot,” she professed. “So when you think about the amount of people we have entertained, then I guess it’s not that crazy.”
The CMA Awards air live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday (November 8) at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Wilson will also perform “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” from Bell Bottom Country.
(Photo by Danielle Del Valle/Getty Images)
