Lainey Wilson has a good friend in Reba McEntire. Wilson reveals that McEntire, whose first album came out almost 15 years before Wilson was even born, has been a source of inspiration and knowledge for her, ever since her own career began.
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"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," Wilson says on Bobby Bones' Bobbycast (via Country Now). "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."
Even before Wilson became friends with McEntire, she was gleaning all she could from the Country Music Hall of Fame member.
"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," Wilson reveals. "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. And that's inspiring to me."
Lainey Wilson and Reba McEntire's "Trailblazer" Collaboration
Wilson and McEntire, along with Miranda Lambert, released their "Trailblazer" collaboration earlier this year. The song was written by Wilson and Lambert, along with Brandy Clark.
"We were just having a conversation about how both [Lambert and McEntire] have influenced me," Wilson tells Billboard. "And [about] passing the torch and blazing trails for each other. Generation after generation, it's going to continue, but we got to keep blazing those trails for the next one."
When discussing the song, Wilson credits McEntire with inspiring her, and so many others.
"Sometimes you need someone to talk to when you're so exhausted," Wilson says, referring to McEntire. "I know I texted you one time, and you told me, 'Sometimes I have to get up [on stage] and sing for a different reason. Sing for my sister. Sing for whomever it is.' I remember those things when I'm on stage and feel like I can't do it anymore."
