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Backstage Country

Lainey Wilson Says CMA’s Female Vocalist Category Is A ‘Sisterhood’

If there was a breakout star at the 56th Annual CMA Awards last night (11/9), it was Lainey Wilson. Lainey went into the show with six nominations, her first CMA…

Lainey Wilson Says CMA's Female Vocalist Category Is A 'Sisterhood'
Jason Kempin/Getty Images

If there was a breakout star at the 56th Annual CMA Awards last night (11/9), it was Lainey Wilson. Lainey went into the show with six nominations, her first CMA nods in her career, and she won both the New Artist of the Year award and the Female Vocalist Award.

Wilson had some tough competition in the Female Vocalist category. The other nominees were Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Ashley McBryde, and last year's winner Carly Pearce.

When she won, she was shocked and speechless when she got to the podium, but as she told us backstage after her win, she wasn't the only nominee happy about her win. "I think they're really happy for me. I mean, Miranda (Lambert) just came over, and Ashley (McBryde) too, and they have tears in their eyes. They are just as excited for me as I would have been for them."

She added, "Every single girl in the category I look up to in some way. A lot of the girls have given me advice, they have pointed me in directions, I mean they have listened to me cry. It's really a sisterhood, it truly is, and they are rooting me on, and I feel the love; it's so genuine and it goes for them too."

Although it was her first nomination in the category, Lainey knew that she had earned it. She said backstage, "It's something really special, and no, in a million years expected it, but I'll take it. I've been here a long time working hard, and they (her fellow nominees) know that about me too, and I think they're really happy for me."

At last night's show, she performed several times, including paying tribute to Alan Jackson and singing "Wait In The Truck" with Hardy.

In late October, Wilson released her sophomore album dubbed Bell Bottom Country and has been on a whirlwind of doing interviews and promoting the new work.

Country music has a new CMA darling this morning (9/7): Lainey Wilson. Miranda Lambert, who has been the CMA's darling for quite some time, posted a headline article to her Insta stories of Lainey topping the CMA's nominations list with six nods total. Lambert wrote over the story, "Hell yeah, she does. Go, friend, go."

Wilson got her very first nominations today, and among her six nods are Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. Lainey herself posted to her socials when she heard the news, "6 NOMINATIONS!?!? I'm speechless. While I try to find the words, just know that I'm blown away and so so honored and proud to be nominated. Thank you to the entire country music community! @CountryMusic #CMAawards."

With her new CMA fame fresh today, we look at some of the things that Lainey, who is also currently filming her first acting role on Paramount's Yellowstone series this month, has been up to in the last year.

Lainey Wilson

GettyImages-1352551152.jpgJason Kempin/Getty Images

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - NOVEMBER 10: Lainey Wilson attends the 55th annual Country Music Association awards at the Bridgestone Arena on November 10, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)


Lainey Wilson

GettyImages-1402234571.jpgJason Kempin/Getty Images

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 10: Lainey Wilson performs during day 2 of CMA Fest 2022 at Nissan Stadium on June 10, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)


Lainey Wilson

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 24: Lainey Wilson performs during the 15th Annual Academy Of Country Music Honors at Ryman Auditorium on August 24, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Mickey Bernal/Getty Images,)


Lainey Wilson

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 07: Lainey Wilson performs onstage during the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards at Allegiant Stadium on March 07, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for ACM)


Lainey Wilson

GettyImages-1276550467-2.jpgJason Kempin/Getty Images

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - SEPTEMBER 24: Singer & songwriter Lainey Wilson performs at The Basement on September 24, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)


Lainey Wilson

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 25: Lainey Wilson performs onstage during New Faces for CRS at Omni Nashville Hotel on February 25, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Catherine Powell/Getty Images)


Lainey Wilson

GettyImages-1390920533-2.jpgJason Kempin/Getty Images

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - APRIL 11: Lainey Wilson attends the 2022 CMT Music Awards at Nashville Municipal Auditorium on April 11, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for CMT)


Lainey Wilson and Cole Swindell

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - APRIL 11: (L-R) Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson perform at the 2022 CMT Music Awards at Nashville Municipal Auditorium on April 11, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for CMT)


Lainey Wilson

GettyImages-1322775014.jpgErika Goldring/Getty Images

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 09: Lainey Wilson performs on Ram Trucks Stage for the 2021 CMT Music Awards at Bridgestone Arena on June 09, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images for CMT)


Lainey Wilson

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MAY 15: Lainey Wilson attends the 2022 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 15, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)


Lainey Wilson

GettyImages-1294758313.jpgJason Kempin/Getty Images

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 05: Singer & songwriter Lainey Wilson performs during the Whiskey Row 2nd Ave Relief Concert at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row on January 05, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. 2nd Avenue in downtown Nashville was damaged after a bomb exploded on Christmas day. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)


Lainey Wilson

GettyImages-1394851096.jpgAmy Sussman/Getty Images

INDIO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 01: Lainey Wilson performs onstage during Day 3 of the 2022 Stagecoach Festival at the Empire Polo Field on May 01, 2022 in Indio, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Stagecoach)

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.