Lainey Wilson Shares Keith Urban’s Response to Her Complaints About Exhausting Schedule: ‘No Whining on the Yacht’

Advice from her fellow country star gave Wilson a fresh perspective.

Keith Urban clearly knows how to help fellow musicians keep perspective—just ask Lainey Wilson.

The “4x4xU” singer shared that over the years, Urban has offered plenty of guidance, including a hilariously direct response when she admitted to feeling worn out from a demanding tour schedule.

“I ran into him and I was exhausted. We had played over 180 shows that year. I told him, ‘I’m tired,’” Wilson recounted on the March 1 episode of No Filter with Kate Langbroek. “And he said, ‘No whining on the yacht.’ I thought, ‘Keith, you better get out of my face.’”

Wilson, 33, explained that Urban, 58, with whom she duets on his song Go Home W U, has also advised her on maintaining balance amid her rapid rise in country music.

“He recently told me, it’s better to maintain balance than always be trying to achieve it,” she said. “For me, that means figuring out what works for you. Keep your work-life balance steady—once it tips too far, it’s hard to recover.”

Urban has publicly praised Wilson as well. In an interview with Inked Magazine, the CMA Awards Entertainer of the Year called her voice “incredible” and said, “She can make herself at home anywhere, and that’s why people love her.”

Wilson also shared that she relies on guidance from other country stars, like Miranda Lambert, who advised her that Nashville is “20% music and 80% business.”

“She invited me to her farm and told me, ‘You need to take a nap. Then we’ve got things to discuss. Work hard, yes, but keep your feet on the ground. Do the things you grew up with, because success can lift you off it quickly,’” Wilson said. She keeps a running list of advice from mentors in a special section on her phone.

Wilson released her fifth album, Whirlwind, in 2024 and is currently planning her wedding to fiancé Devlin “Duck” Hodges, whom she got engaged to last February.