Photo: Getty Images North America
Lainey Wilson took the 2024 CMT Music Awards stage at Moody Center in Austin, Texas, tipping her hat to the “cowgirls and cowboys” who embrace the country life. Wilson performed her latest anthem that released earlier this year, “Country’s Cool Again.”
One of the top nominees of the evening, the reigning iHeartRadio Music Awards Country Song of the Year winner acknowledged that “country isn’t just a genre for me or for any of us that live and breathe it every single day. It’s a way of life. It’s always been cool and I think I speak for everyone when I say, we’re just glad it’s gettin’ a little more recognition and love these days. Welcome to the party, cowgirls and cowboys,” she said when she first introduced the song.
“Country’s Cool Again” was penned by The Heart Wranglers — Trannie Anderson and Dallas Wilson — with Wilson’s band leader, Aslan Freeman. It’s the first song to make its debut after Wilson’s award-winning album, Bell Bottom Country, which scored Wilson her first Grammy Award in February (Best Country Album, presented by Kacey Musgraves). Wilson previously said in a statement that “this past year has been a wild ride and truly shown me that country music is really loving me back.” She viewed the Jay Joyce-produced track as a nod to her “upbringing,” and her journey to blaze her own trail in country music.
“It kind of seems like once the stars started aligning, it seemed like they aligned over and over and over again, and it feels like we got lightning in a bottle,” Wilson said in a previous interview with iHeartCountry, shortly after she surprised unsuspecting bar patrons on Lower Broadway in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. “That's the best way that I can describe it. I will say that if it would've happened when I wanted it to happen, right when I first moved to Nashville in 2011 in my camper, I don't know if I would've been ready. And I don't know if I would've lived enough life to tell the kind of stories that I'm supposed to be telling. So, I believe timing is everything.
“It's cool to be able to write your story and your truth and get vulnerable and have people appreciate that. …The truth is, I mean, preparing for something like that is really scary,” she said later, when asked what it’s like to observe how her fans receive her music after spending so much time writing and recording it. “You're like, 'well, I mean, all I can do is do what I do and hope that folks like it.' But it seems like I just keep on getting surprised, and people are finding little pieces in each song to connect to and relate to. And a lot of people have shared their stories with me on why they love each song and why it means something different to them. And that's what country music's about. It's about making people feel like they're not alone. And I've known from a very early age that I was supposed to be doing this, and it feels really nice to just be embraced.”
Wilson recently returned to the U.S. in the midst of her international tour dates. She’s slated to kick off her headlining tour, titled after her latest single, late next month. The tour will bookend with Wilson’s two hometowns: Nashville, Tennessee, and Monroe, Louisiana. See her full list of upcoming tour dates below.
Other performers included host Kelsea Ballerini, Jason Aldean, Dasha, Bailey Zimmerman, Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, Little Big Town with Sugarland, Megan Moroney, NEEDTOBREATHE with Jordan Davis, Old Dominion with Megan Moroney, Parker McCollum with Brittney Spencer, Sam Hunt, and Trisha Yearwood, who was revealed as the first-ever June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award. Wilson also returned to the stage for an all-star tribute to late country legend Toby Keith, who died earlier this year following a battle with stomach cancer. He was 62.
Presenters included Amber Riley, Billy Bob Thornton (Landman), Cody Alan, Carly Pearce, Cody Johnson, Emily Osment (Young Sheldon), Emma Roberts, Gayle King (CBS Mornings), James Van Der Beek, Jane Seymour, Jelly Roll, Max Theriot (Fire Country), Megan Moroney, Melissa Etheridge, Mickey Guyton, Minnie Driver, Montana Jordan (Young Sheldon), Parmalee and Paul Walter Hauser, per a press release issued Wednesday (April 3).
“LAINEY WILSON: LIVE” 2024 GLOBAL DATES
April 17th – Belfast, Northern Ireland – Ulster Hall
April 19th – Glasgow, England – O2 Academy Glasgow
April 20th – Manchester, England– Manchester Academy
April 23rd – London, England – O2 Forum Kentish Town
April 25th – Amsterdam, NL – Melkweg Max
April 29th – Cologne, DE – Kantine
April 30th – Berlin, DE – Columbia Theatre
May 2nd – Stockholm, SE – Nalen
May 3rd – Oslo, NO – Rockefeller Music Hall
“COUNTRY’S COOL AGAIN” DATES
5/31 – Nashville, TN (Ascend Amphitheater) *^
6/1 – Nashville, TN (Ascend Amphitheater) *^
6/14 – Camden, NJ (Freedom Mortgage Pavilion) *^
6/15 – Gilford, NH (Bank NH Pavilion) *^
6/20 – Saratoga Springs, NY (Broadview Stage at SPAC) *^
6/21 – Syracuse, NY (Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview) *^
6/26 – New York, NY (Radio City Music Hall) *^
6/28 – Bridgeport, CT (Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater) *^
6/29 – Bangor, ME (Maine Savings Amphitheater) *^
8/8 – Huntsville, AL (The Orion Amphitheater) *^
8/9 – Southaven, MS (BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove) *^
8/10 – Rogers, AR (Walmart AMP) *^
8/22 – Prescott Valley, AZ (Findlay Toyota Center) +^
8/23 – Chula Vista, CA (North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre) +^
8/24 – Concord, CA (Toyota Pavilion at Concord) +^
9/1 – Los Angeles, CA (The Greek Theatre) +^
9/13 - Salt Lake City, UT (USANA Amphitheatre) +^
9/14 - Boise, ID (Ford Idaho Center) +^
9/15 - Missoula, MT (University of Montana - Adams Center) +^
9/19 – Fresno, CA (Save Mart Center) +%
9/20 – Lake Tahoe/Stateline, NV (Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys) + ^
9/26 – Vancouver, BC (Rogers Arena) + ^
9/27 – Auburn, WA (White River Amphitheatre) + ^
9/28 – Ridgefield, WA (RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater) + ^
10/10 – Lubbock, TX (United Supermarkets Arena) + ^
10/18 – Raleigh, NC (Red Hat Amphitheater) *^
10/19 – Alpharetta, GA (Ameris Bank Amphitheatre) *^
10/20 – Wilmington, NC (Live Oak Bank Pavilion) *^
10/24 – London, ON (Budweiser Gardens) *^
10/25 – Oshawa, ON (Tribute Communities Centre) *^
10/26 – Pittsburgh, PA (Petersen Events Center) *^
11/1 – Little Rock, AR (Simmons Bank Arena) + ^
11/2 – Evansville, IN (Ford Center) *^
11/3 – Charleston, WV (Charleston Coliseum) *^
11/7 – Oklahoma City, OK (Paycom Center) + ^
11/8 – Omaha, NE (CHI Health Center) + ^
11/9 – Sioux Falls, SD (Denny Sanford Premier Center) + ^
11/15- Monroe, LA (Monroe Civic Center) *^
11/16 Monroe, LA (Monroe Civic Center) *^
* - Ian Munsick
^ - Zach Top
+ - Jackson Dean
% - To Be Announced