Country music star Lainey Wilson opened up about her experiences growing up in a small town and how it shaped her values. She also talked about her time performing as Hannah Montana and how it inspired her to pursue a career in music.
Country music superstar Lainey Wilson is looking back at her humble beginnings. The "Things a Man Oughta Know" singer shared that after she wrote her first song at just 9 years old, she began working toward her music career and would perform at odd locations, including in the aisles of Walmart.
"I’ve heard stories that you used to perform in a Walmart in the aisles," host Jimmy Fallon asked Wilson on his late night talk show.
Lainey Wilson Shares What Being an American Means to Her
"I would play anywhere that they let me play," she laughed. "I’m talking about nursing homes, flatbed trailers."
"Anywhere that – My parents would be like ‘Hey, Lainey, sing that song you just wrote last week for anybody,' and I’d just do it."
Lainey Wilson Shares What Being an American Means to Her
The Baskin, Louisiana, native continued to explain that she grew up in a small town of nearly 200 people, and in the town, there was a focus on telling stories, which is something that inspired her to become a songwriter.
At a young age, Wilson shared that her grandmother would print out pictures of her and help put them on CDs for her to hand out.
Lainey Wilson Shares What Being an American Means to Her
"Well, nobody was buying them," she quipped. "I was trying to sell them, though."
She added, "I was handing them out like candy. It was like Halloween. I was giving them to neighbors, friends, family, anybody who would take it."
On that album, she wrote a song called "Country Girls Rule" that she sampled on the late-night talk show.
Meanwhile, long before becoming a country music superstar, Wilson impersonated Miley Cyrus' iconic Disney character, Hannah Montana, for most of her teenage years.
In August, Lainey Wilson had a "full circle moment" when she honored Miley Cyrus as a Disney Legend at a D23 event in Anaheim, California. (The Walt Disney Company)
The "Yellowstone" actress said she has been "touring since 8th grade," as she would perform three to four birthday parties during a weekend up until 12th grade and wore a blonde wig like Hannah Montana.
"I would open the show as Lainey Wilson, and then I would run behind a tree or whatever it was… put on my Hannah Montana get-up," she said.
In August, Wilson had a "full circle moment" when she honored Cyrus as a Disney Legend at a D23 event in Anaheim, California. Cyrus, who portrayed Hannah Montana on the hit sitcom from 2006 to 2011, made history as the youngest person to ever be named a Disney Legend.
"You inspired me to believe in myself," she added, "That I, too, could be an ordinary girl living in an extraordinary world. So, on behalf of Hannah Montana fans everywhere, I’d like to dedicate this song to you."
After performing the "Hannah Montana" theme song, "Best of Both Worlds," Cyrus and Wilson embraced in a hug onstage.
Wilson recently opened up about having "dark days" in Nashville, Tennessee, before her career took off.
To get where she is today, she lived in a Flagstaff bumper-pull camper trailer in her mentor's studio parking lot for three years.
In 2022, Wilson returned to the grounds of her former home, which sparked "sadness" inside of her to relive some of her darkest days.
"I feel a sense of hopefulness standing here, but I also feel a little sadness," she told "Good Morning America" at the time. "There were a lot of dark days for me. I was very lonely. I didn't know hardly anybody in town."
Fast-forward to 2024, Wilson took home her first Grammy in February, and her just-released "Whirlwind" album perfectly describes what the country singer has been through.
