In her acceptance speech on Wednesday night (Nov. 8) after winning her first-ever CMA Entertainer of the Year award, Lainey Wilson explained why it's fitting that she won the main prize the year she that tallied nine nominations.
"It's also the year that I wrote my first song," Wilson said of her lucky number. "It's the year that I got my first pair of bell bottoms. It's the year that my mom and daddy brought me to Nashville for the very first time and took me to the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. It's the year that my mom and daddy brought home this horse named Tex and the horse was, it was wild and it needed breaking and they put me on the back of that thing and they said 'You better hold on, you better ride.'"
Wilson continued that Tex "prepared me for this ride, because it is wild."
"And I tell you what, there were times where I was crying and I wanted to get down, I'm like, 'Let me off the back of this thing.' But y'all, every time it would start bucking, I'd hold on a little bit tighter," she added.
Wilson then reflected on feeling like country music now "loves her back" as she continues to pile up industry honors.
"And thank y'all for letting me be me and thank y'all giving me this opportunity,"she concluded. "Thank you Jesus. Thank you. Thank you every single person on my team. I love y'all. I love you Duck. Do love you Mom and Daddy, Jane, the boys, God bless you."
Wilson also won the 2023 CMA Award for Female Vocalist of the Year, and her Bell Bottom Country LP claimed Album of the Year. She shared Video of the Year and Musical Event of the Year with Hardy for their collaboration "Wait in the Truck."
