Lainey Wilson on the “Yellowstone” finale, her friendship with Taylor Sheridan and the joy of huge flared jeans

Lainey Wilson on the “Yellowstone” finale, her friendship with Taylor Sheridan and the joy of huge flared jeans

In 2022 country music artist Lainey Wilson showed up on set in Montana to film Yellowstone, the show about a ranching family that became a surprise hit in the pandemic era. Wilson was already on the rise as a Nashville star when she first took on the role of Abby, a soulful country singer and friend of the Dutton family, the character showrunner Taylor Sheridan wrote in thought of her. Still, it was Wilson’s first acting gig – if you don’t count her summer job in high school.

“I guess I had to do a bit of acting when I was impersonating Hannah Montana at birthday parties!” she said. “But when it comes to learning lines, I’ve never done anything like that. It goes back to Taylor Sheridan believing in me and believing I could do it and seeing something in me before I saw it in myself.”

When she returns for the season finale this Sunday – she has remained tight-lipped about the script, but is said to have filmed a big concert scene back in August – she will return a much bigger star. In 2023, she became the first woman since then Taylor Swift to win the coveted Entertainer of the Year Award at the CMAs, and in May 2024 Reba McEntire invited her to join the Grand Ole Opry alongside legends Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, And Keith Urban, in the pantheon of country music.

“It means a lot to me that Reba would even accept the opportunity to do something like this for me. “She and I have developed a friendship since then, and it’s really strange for me to say that Reba is my girlfriend,” Wilson said. “If someone like Reba thinks I’ll stand the test of time, then you’re damn right I will!”

Image may include Susan George. Clothing, Hat, Adult, Person, Animal, Horse and Mammal

By Eric Ryan Anderson.

Wilson, 32, is part of a wave of country musicians born in the early 1990s that draws as much inspiration from previous generations of country stars as the anti-establishment outlaw musicians of the 1970s and 1980s as well as modern ones Rock and Pop. Wilson says she’s happy to be part of a larger movement brewing in Nashville’s historic Music Row district. “I don’t know about you, but I really don’t think it’s going to slow down any time soon,” she adds. “It’s sturdy, just drags along, and it’ll be cool to see where country music is in 10 years.”

Vanity Fair: How did you originally get involved? Yellowstone? Do you remember when you realized it was becoming a sensation?

Lainey Wilson: I guess I just didn’t even realize how important it really was or how useful it was until a few of my songs ended up on the show. Then people started coming to the shows, even if there were only a handful. They would say, “I found you.” Yellowstone.“And I think, okay, these rankings are making a difference.” Long story short: Taylor Sheridan and I just became friends. We met at a horse riding competition he ran in Las Vegas and we really bonded over the horses. I grew up on horseback and we had a lot in common, and I think it was just a kind of mutual respect for each other. Two completely different worlds, but we said, “Hey, I see you.”

A few years later he called me and said, “Hey, I have this idea. I want to create a character especially for you. We’ll call her Abby. And you’ll pretty much be yourself. Maybe you’ll say and do a few things you wouldn’t normally do, but you’ll be able to dress the way you dress and sing your songs.” It was such a blessing because it really gave a name a face. Especially at a time when people knew the song from the radio but simply didn’t know who sang it or what they looked like. That’s what Yellowstone done for me.

Were you surprised at the broader impact it had? Your song “Country’s Cool Again” from earlier this year is about how everyone wants to be a cowboy now.

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