Lainey Wilson revealed that songwriting played a crucial role in helping her cope with being targeted by “mean girls” while growing up. She described the experience as challenging but found solace and expression through her music.
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Lainey Wilson’s new album, Whirlwind, is set to be released on Friday, August 23.
Ahead of the release of her new album Whirlwind, Lainey Wilson, 32, spoke with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about how songwriting helped her navigate childhood challenges.
She shared, “I dealt with things that all kids deal with, mean girls… And I don’t even know if I would say they bullied me. I’ve seen kids get bullied, but it was hard. I mean, when you’re 13, 14 years old…” Wilson noted that coming home and turning to music provided an emotional outlet.
The “Hang Tight Honey” singer explained that she used songwriting to cope with issues at home and that it remains a vital form of self-expression. “Songwriting has been a thing for me, too. I’ll observe other people and I will be able to become more empathetic toward people,” she said. “I’m able to take some of their pain on, which is one of my worst qualities and my best qualities. But I can write from somebody else’s perspective. And I think just songwriting, in general, has made me a better person.”
Lainey Wilson wrote her first song at 9 years old and grew up listening to country legends like Glen Campbell, Tim McGraw, and Patsy Cline, as she shared with PEOPLE last year in a digital cover story. She recalled, “I grew up in a town where country music is life: We eat, sleep, and breathe it. I have loved it with my entire heart, and I feel like country music is finally starting to love me back.”
Reflecting on the past year, Wilson described it as a “whirlwind,” which also inspired the title of her upcoming fifth studio album, set for release on Friday, August 23. She expressed her excitement in a statement, saying, “I am so excited to finally announce Whirlwind. This album has been a long time coming and I can’t wait for the world to have this body of work in their hands soon. This new chapter of music is the most cathartic and personal piece of art I’ve ever made. I hope this record brings some peace to your whirlwind and wraps its arms around you like it did for me.”
Lainey Wilson, who won Entertainer of the Year at the ACM Awards in May, emphasized her focus on “quality over quantity” for her new album Whirlwind. She told Billboard that month, “We were figuring out what was working – it was bringing people out on the road to get it done – and I stayed pretty inspired.”
Ahead of the album’s release, Wilson has released several singles, including “Hang Tight Honey,” “4x4xU,” and “Good Horses,” which features Miranda Lambert. Additionally, her new song “Out of Oklahoma” is part of the soundtrack for the movie Twisters.