Lainey Wilson on Dolly: ‘It Would Be Wrong Not To Love Her’
Lainey Wilson proudly accepted her Female Vocalist award from icon Dolly Parton at the ACM Awards in May. That was the moment she met her idol for the very first time.
Before she met Dolly, I talked with Lainey about Parton, who she wrote a song about on her 2021 album Saying What I’m Thinking. The song was called “WWDD (What Would Dolly Do?).” When I mentioned Dolly, she lit up, saying, “Oh, my gosh. She’s my hero. And I don’t know anybody who does not love Dolly Parton. They’re crazy. You can’t. It would be wrong on every level not to love her.”
She added, “She’s just it. Yeah, everything about her, from her style, her personality, her talent, but more importantly, who she is and in her heart. And I’m a firm believer that if everybody was a little more like Dolly Parton, the world would be a much better place.”
Wilson gets the opportunity now and then to play the stage at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, where Parton celebrated her 50th Anniversary of becoming a member of not long ago. Lainey said of the Opry, “Oh my goodness. I’m telling you right now, like everything I’ve ever dreamed about, it’s that. It is just so crazy there standing there in that circle and having that overwhelming feeling.”
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Wilson recently talked with American Songwriter and revealed that the love in her life, former Pittsburgh Steelers football player Devlin Hodges, had changed her songwriting subjects quite a bit. Wilson told the publication that for the first time, she has been writing songs about love.
She said, “I’m in a very happy, healthy relationship right now. And I’ve never written a love song in my life until the last two and a half years.” Lainey said that her boyfriend makes it “very easy” to write love songs. She added that whatever the situation is in her life at the time, she writes about it. At this time, the situation is love.
She explained that her songwriting process is about tuning in to “those true feelings” and that taking advantage of them is important and to not be “scared of them.”
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