On the road to success, there are no footprints of lazy people.

Lainey Wilson, 2024

Country artist Lainey Wilson recently opened up about the struggles she faced as her career developed.

On a recent episode of the “Artist Friendly” podcast, hosted by Good Charlotte lead vocalist Joel Madden, Wilson, 32, revealed that she had dealt with a few major personal and professional issues as her career in country music has grown.

According to the Washington Post, Wilson moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2011. The emerging star spoke on the podcast about how she would reach a point of success only to be knocked down again.

“I felt like, ‘Okay, I’ve got something going, it’s cooking.’ And then it kinda gets taken away,” Wilson said. “And I have to start over, switch gears, and find a different way.” “I feel like it’s a part of this business, all these different roadblocks and trying to figure out how the [expletive] to come back from it.”

During the conversation, she recalled a moment shortly after moving to Nashville. Wilson used to live in a camper as her career was starting to take off, and she also had a mentor from her hometown of Baskin, Louisiana – Jerry Cupit – helping her with her music.

Wilson continued told Madden that the two of them wrote music every day for “three years,” but in 2014, Cupit got sick and died.

“It was a shock to everybody, and I had to start over from square one,” Wilson said. “That was definitely, like, a dark time in my life. Because when you write 300+ songs with somebody, you become really close.”

On top of the loss of her mentor and close friend, Wilson also recounted dating a guy who got another girl pregnant.

“This was all happening at the same time,” said Wilson. “When it rains, it pours.”

Madden then asked if that experience was “heartbreaking” too, to which the singer said she learned just to embrace it.

“I’ve learned just to embrace the heartbreak,” Wilson said. “Cause I’m like, ‘Am I getting punked? Is this happening to me just so I can have something to write about?’ Now I’m learning how to adjust to my life changing.”

Wilson has had a successful career in country music since winning the 2023 Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year award, breaking a long streak of male winners.