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Lainey Wilson had a full-circle moment with Taylor Swift.
The Bell Bottom Country powerhouse and the globally-beloved pop megastar met earlier this month. Wilson, who won her first Grammy Award for her smash-hit sophomore album, appeared on a recent episode of the Zach Sang Show. She was asked on the podcast whether anyone in L.A. told her that they were a fan of hers, and she was “shocked” by that. Wilson replied that Swift told her that she was a fan.
“I told her, I said — I truly respect her. I think she is freakin’ awesome — when I was 14, I watched her perform at CMA Fest Riverfront Stage,” Wilson said on the Zach Sang Show, referring to the annual music festival in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. “Me and my mom and daddy and sister, we watched her performance. And I told her that and she was like, ‘there were like 16 people there,’ and I was like, ‘well, we were there. We were a few of the 16.’ It’s just so cool to see how she’s done this. I think she’s just a boss. I got to see her show this past year and just left there feeling so inspired.”
Wilson explained that singer and musician Jack Antonoff called her over to him because his wife is a fan. That’s where he also introduced the “Country’s Cool Again” star to Swift.
“You never know in those situations. I’m not trying to bother anybody,” Wilson said of the moment she met Swift, who made history at the Grammy Awards this month and announced her highly-anticipated new album while accepting her 13th Grammy on stage. “I can only imagine what her life feels like. I don’t want anything from anybody. It’s just nice to shake hands and be like, ‘hey, I think you are bada**.’”
Wilson is nominated at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards, alongside other heavy-hitters in the genre like Luke Combs, Jelly Roll and others. See the full list of country artists nominated here. Fans across the country will be able to watch the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards live as the show will be airing live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Monday, April 1st from 8pm-10pm ET live/PT tape-delayed on FOX. The event will also be broadcast on iHeartRadio stations nationwide and on the free iHeartRadio app.