Lainey Wilson is living the dream - her dream. Her career is exploding. Wilson's personal life is happy, too, with a wedding to fiance Devlin "Duck" Hodges on tap. And she is a widely-emulated style icon whose fashion choices draw appreciative attention. However, things were not always so joyful for the "Somewhere Over Laredo" singer. Wilson, 33, per People, had a rough climb to the top that was once marked by a major panic attack lasting for days. Three therapists, including one for business, helped restore her equilibrium and get her back on track.
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What Sent Wilson Spiraling
The star has consistently been upfront about her rise to fame. It was long, arduous, and not always linear. She was not an "overnight" success, if such a phenomenon even exists. Wilson hails from tiny Baskin, Louisiana. When she was just 19, she gamely pulled up stakes and moved to Nashville in search of her big break. The enterprising teen lived a spartan existence in a camper while she worked to establish a foothold in the music industry. It took Wilson lots of toiling. She finally snagged a recording deal eight years ago.
Nevertheless, she was wracked by depression and anxiety. She shares that in her upcoming Netflix documentary, Lainey Wilson: Keepin' Country Cool. (It begins streaming on Wednesday, April 22.) In 2019, per the outlet, she at last reached "her breaking point." Wilson was simply flat-out drained, emotionally and physically. That precipitated the long-duration panic attack.
She Described Her Full-Tilt Schedule at the Time
In fact, the contract, which was a huge step forward, was only the beginning for Wilson. Getting her name known to radio stations was yet another massive project. She candidly shared, "I was going around meeting every radio station in America. You go into a conference room and you play your song and sometimes they're into it, sometimes they're on their phone, sometimes you're singing to the carpet."
Furthermore, she added, "After four months solid visiting all these different radio stations, I was just exhausted and I was burned-out from having to constantly be on. I wanted to curl up in a little ball and shut the world out completely."
She Got Some Valuable Advice From This Country Music Legend
Reba McEntire must have taken Lainey Wilson under her wing. She reportedly advised the young singer, "When I feel like I can't do it anymore, I do it for somebody else." That wise guidance resonated strongly with Wilson. She acknowledged, "It was like a light bulb went off."
Today, Wilson gratefully pays it forward. On her recently-concluded Whirlwind global tour, she spotlighted a young girl in the audience at each stop and made her a "cowgirl of the night." Those were undoubtedly wonderful feel-good moments for the children and for Lainey Wilson.
The Singer Urges People To "Speak up" When They Feel Troubled
She advises, "Speak up when you're not feeling great, because there most likely will be people around you who can help you through it or get you the help you need. If you're not telling the people around you how you're feeling then nobody's going to know."
