Lainey Wilson on Achieving Her First No. 1 Song With “Things a Man Oughta Know”: “It’s Humbling”
Lainey Wilson is still soaking in the excitement of her first No. 1 song, “Things a Man Oughta Know.” Released in 2020, it took the song just over a year to clinch the pinnacle position on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in Sept. 2021, and the significance of the accomplishment is not lost on Wilson.
“It’s humbling,” she shares with Sounds Like Nashville about scoring her first No. 1 single. “Every time somebody says ‘I can’t believe you have a No. 1 song’ I’m like ‘you just reminded me,'” she adds with a laugh. “It really is wild, and I’m excited for what’s next.” While the singer allows herself time to celebrate the milestone, it’s not long until she’s working toward her next goal. “It’s crazy because I truly am the kind of person where I get excited and I let myself celebrate, but I’m also like ‘let’s do it again. We’re not going to celebrate too much where we forget about what our next steps are,’” she asserts. “It feels good. It feels like it’s going in the right direction.”
Part of moving in the right direction is an opening slot on Jason Aldean’s 2021 Back in the Saddle Tour. The Louisiana native reveals that she was an avid fan of the country superstar growing up, so much so she had dreams of emulating him onstage. “I looked up to him for years. When I was little I used to say, ‘I want to be the female version of Jason Aldean’ because I thought he was an entertainer. Now I get to sit side stage every single night and pick up on these things,” she recollects. “He has this thing about him that he can turn it on and off. Just watching him I’m learning so much.” Among the wisdom she’s gained watching him perform live is the way he connects with his audience, in addition to learning how to find the bright moments in the intense life of touring. “It’s easy to get caught up in everything of trying to do your job the best that you possibly can, but at the end of the day, this is supposed to be fun,” Wilson expresses. “We’re supposed to celebrate all the little milestones and things like that, and I truly feel like him and his crew do that.”
Wilson is also getting fans into the holiday spirit with her recently released cover of George Strait’s “Christmas Cookies,” which she calls, “so much fun.” She will close out 2021 with Aldean as his tour concludes at the Park Theatre in Las Vegas Dec. 9-11. She’s also set to perform at Luke Bryan’s annual Crash My Playa event in Cancun, Mexico in Jan. 2022, followed by an opening stint on Dierks Bentley’s 2022 Beers on Me Tour.
