The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum celebrated the opening of its newest exhibition, Lainey Wilson: Tough as Nails. The exhibition traces Wilson’s story from her upbringing on her family’s farm in Baskin, Louisiana, to her rise to global fame. The exhibit, which opens tomorrow, July 18 and runs until June 2026, is included with museum admission.
In support of the exhibit, there will be a Songwriter Session with Wilson’s recent collaborators Aaron Raitiere and Jon Decious in the museum’s Ford Theater on Saturday, July 19. The museum will hold a variety of programs throughout the life of the exhibit, including arts and crafts programming for families.
Wilson grew up in Baskin, Louisiana, a farming community in Franklin Parish in the northeastern part of the state — riding horses and four-wheelers and swimming in nearby Big Creek with her older sister. Wilson envisioned a career as a country artist and started working to make it happen from a young age — singing publicly for the first time at her kindergarten graduation and writing songs for fun by the time she was 10. As a teenager, she learned how to handle herself in front of audiences through performances, pageants and local talent competitions.
In 2011, Wilson moved to Nashville. Her one connection to the country music business was Jerry Cupit, a family friend from Franklin Parish who became her producer, a songwriting partner and a mentor. His death in 2014 left Wilson’s future in Nashville uncertain, but she refused to give up. In 2015, she met Mandelyn Monchick, who advocated for Wilson as a friend before officially becoming her manager and referred Wilson to Aslan Freeman, now her bandleader.
Wilson signed a song-publishing contract at Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2017 and a recording contract with BBR Music Group’s Broken Bow Records one year later. She enjoyed several early-career wins in 2019 and made her Grand Ole Opry debut in February 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, Wilson focused on building a following online. Her next single, “Things a Man Oughta Know,” became her first country radio #1, ten years after she moved to Nashville.
Wilson has continued her success with a chart-topping mix of solo songs and high-profile duets that have made her a near-constant presence on country radio. At the 2023 CMA Awards, she won five trophies and became the first woman to win Entertainer of the Year since Taylor Swift in 2011. Wilson is the reigning Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year two years running.
Advance reservations are encouraged and ticket availability can be found on the museum’s website.
Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
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