Before anyone knew Lainey Wilson’s name, she was looking to the careers of country music greats like Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton to help her make decisions throughout her musical journey. But now that she’s lucky enough to call these female icons her friends, Wilson is blessed enough to have a front-row seat to their wisdom.
“I feel like they taught me a lot before I ever even knew ’em,” Wilson shared during an interview with Bobby Bones on the Bobbycast podcast.
Whenever the “Somewhere Over Laredo” singer has questions or doubts on something happening in her career, she goes straight to the top to seek answers. Over the years she’s learned that McEntire will go above and beyond to be there for her and step into that mentor role just as others did for McEntire during the early days of her music career.
“I can text Reba and say, ‘what do you do when this happens? And what do you do when you’re feeling this way’ and whatever. And then she just willingly sends me pages of wisdom that shows you why she is where she is. Because you can tell that there has been people before her who have poured into her and she’s willing to do the same now. She’s a good woman,” Wilson explained.
Lainey also admires how Reba’s authenticity has stayed consistent over the years. Seeing the “Fancy” singer maintain that genuineness has inspired Wilson to try and do the same in her career.
“Just even watching old interviews of Reba, it’s the same exact person as when me and her went and got supper together in Los Angeles a few months back, what you see is what you get and no amount of awards and accolades and money and stardom and all of these things will ever take her away from the things that make her, her,” she revealed. “And that’s inspiring to me.”
The Louisiana native continues to touch on that memory from L.A., when she met up with McEntire and her boyfriend Rex Linn. Wilson fondly recalled facetiming her now-fiancé, Duck, and letting him catch up with Rex about duck hunting while she used the opportunity to ask McEntire as many questions as she could. This conversation gave her a firsthand look at just how similar their musical journeys have been, despite spanning different generations.
“It is really crazy to, even though we’re in a completely different time, that a lot of her struggles then are the same struggles that I have now. And a lot of the things that you’re just kind of scared to ask people, it didn’t seem like a silly question to her,” Wilson shared. “She is a beautiful person inside and out. So getting to know her has been, it’s been more than I could have ever imagined.”
As Bobby Bones pointed out, the biggest parallel between Lainey Wilson and Reba McEntire’s careers is their humility. It’s safe to say that the kinda of people that they are now is the same as they were back before the major award wins and star status.
“Getting to know you has been one of my favorite parts about being in this city. Because to watch somebody be wildly famous now and then you can just be like, ‘what up, dude?’ That’s you,” Bones pointed out to Wilson. “You’re an inspiration to a lot of artists.”
Lainey and Reba recently had the chance to collaborate on the song “Trailblazer” with Miranda Lambert. The trio of artists debuted the song during the 2025 ACM Awards, wowing fans with the track that pays tribute to the female country icons who paved the way for them.
The post Lainey Wilson Reflects On Her Friendship with Reba McEntire: ‘She’s a Good Woman’ appeared first on Country Now.
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