Why Lainey Wilson Says She ‘Had No Choice But To Become Tough As Nails’

Lainey Wilson officially has her own exhibit in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.

Wilson, 33, gazed upon some of her most glamorous wardrobe pieces — including, of course, her signature bell bottoms — monumental awards, childhood trinkets and more as she and her family saw the Lainey Wilson: Tough as Nails exhibit for the first time. Interview clips and footage of iconic performances are interwoven into the museum space. Wilson and her family, her team and others gathered for the opening celebration on Thursday evening (July 17). Museum CEO Kyle Young paid tribute to Wilson, and introduced her to the stage to deliver heartfelt remarks in the museum's Hall of Fame Rotunda, which honors some of the most legendary figures to contribute to the genre.

The artifacts displayed behind glass take museum attendees through the Baskin, Louisiana-born artist’s life story. Wilson said in an interview with iHeartCountry that “it puts a lot into perspective” to see her own exhibit. She reminisced on her first-ever visit to Dolly Parton’s Dollywood after looking at the ticket stubs. She reflected on her first time sitting in the seats at the historic Grand Ole Opry when she was 9 years old. Wilson watched Little Jimmy Dickens, Phil Vassar, Crystal Gayle and Bill Anderson take the legendary stage, and had “an overwhelming feeling” she would be there herself one day.

‘This Journey Has Been A Wild One’

“It puts a lot into perspective in the best kind of way. I feel like this journey has been a wild one. At times, it’s hard to wrap your head around everything that’s happened. But this is like, ‘wow, I’ve been working at this for my whole life,’” Wilson told iHeartCountry. “I’m proud of that little girl,” she said as she thought back to the childhood items, including from Kindergarten, displayed in the exhibit. “I’m proud of her, and I feel like I have held onto that part of me that made me ‘me’ ...And also seeing, too, that my parents kept all these things, and they believed in me. That’s why I thought I could maybe believe in myself.

“I would say, first of all, keep that spitfire spirit,” Wilson said when asked what she would tell her younger self about her life now. “Take every opportunity that you can. I mean, every little singing competition I entered, and even writing a letter to Tim McGraw asking for an opportunity, that clearly, he never got. Honestly, I should give it to him now,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll tell you this, just going up and down here, getting to read all these little things and seeing how a lot of these are like little steps, and all like the big steps in between, it seems like the stars have had to align over and over and over again. ...Even though this tells a big story, I think that there’s still so much left of the story, and that excites me.”

Wilson spent much of her childhood riding horses, riding four-wheelers and swimming as she grew up in a farming community in Franklin Parish. She made her public singing debut at her Kindergarten graduation, and wrote her first song at 9 years old. Now the reigning Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year for her second consecutive year, Wilson held down a job as a Hannah Montana impersonator to sharpen her skills as a performer. She moved to Nashville in 2011, and connected with Franklin Parish-born producer Jerry Cupit. Cupit served as a steadfast mentor to Wilson until his death in 2014, and although she felt a wave of uncertainty after losing Cupit, Wilson powered through with her career pursuits. She met now-manager and longtime advocate for Wilson, Mandelyn Monchick, the following year, and Monchick introduced the Bell Bottom Country star to her current band leader, Aslan Freeman. By 2017, Wilson scored a song-publishing contract, and signed with her record label the following year. Wilson’s “Things a Man Oughta Know” skyrocketed as her first No. 1 single 10 years after she made the move from Louisiana to Tennessee in a camper trailer.

“When I was 19, when I first moved to town in my little camper trailer, I’d come up here [to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum] and I’d buy a ticket and stand in line, and I’d come walk up and down these halls and dream about having something of mine in a shadowbox,” Wilson told iHeartCountry. “I thought, ‘man, how cool would it be to have music that meant enough to somebody that they wanted to put an outfit of mine in a shadowbox?’ So, it’s wild. It’s like a humbling, really cool moment for me and my mom and daddy to share together because...(of) the blood, sweat and tears that they have put into helping me to achieve these goals, too. Their (belief in me) made me believe myself.”

Lainey Wilson’s Story Is ‘True And Real’

The Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ang Zimmer said Wilson’s Tough as Nails was “100%” a museum curator’s dream. Zimmer beamed over the unique artifacts that Wilson and her parents saved, including Wilson’s childhood diary, her letter to McGraw, the lyrics to the first song she wrote, her earliest wardrobe pieces she wore on stage, and more. She said they had ”all these little pieces of the puzzle coming together, and you really see it when you look at…how she got here, and what the steps were, and how that drive was (there) from day one, and she was ready to do it.

“When you lay it all out here, you kind of see that…she was herself when she was back in Baskin, and she was a kid,” Zimmer said. “And who she was then and who she is now is the same. ...I think there’s a quote from [Grammy-winning producer] Jay Joyce that’s something like, you know, ‘who people think she is, is who she is.’ I hope that’s what this exhibit shows you, is that this is her through and through.”

The process to bring Tough as Nails to life took place over the course of nearly a year. Curators gathered information and artifacts as they called Jelly Roll’s team, Cole Swindell’s team, frequent songwriting collaborators Trannie Anderson and Dallas Wilson (no relation to the Whirlwind artist), visited Wilson’s Louisiana hometown, and more. Zimmer said “we don’t always get that lucky,” visiting the artist’s childhood home. “I think it just makes it easier to tell the story and to know that you have the narrative right. You can hear her tell it, you can hear other people tell it, but to go and see it, you’re like, ‘I get it.’ I get it, and I know what I am telling is true and is real.”

Wilson said her parents have “been waiting for” the moment she had an exhibit in the Hall of Fame. “They were so excited because they have had a lot to do with this, and just being able to share this moment…I think they’re very proud.” When asked about some of the most meaningful items to her, Wilson said she’s “so thankful” that her parents saved her first horse saddle, which is included in the Tough as Nails display.

Why ‘I’ve Had To Be Tough As Nails’

“When I think about the journey, when I think about all the moments where I’ve come to a roadblock and had to figure out whether to go right or left, and just have to switch gears a whole bunch, I’ve had to be tough as nails,” Wilson said of the exhibit’s title, which also cleverly nods to a lyric in “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.” “I’ve had no other choice. But I feel like because my journey hasn’t been like an overnight success, I feel like that’s given me the songs that I’m supposed to be singing to people, you know? …I’m not mad about it. I’m not mad that I’ve been in Nashville for 15 years, you know? I’m proud of that.

“What I’m realizing is at this point, the sky is the limit, and that’s a really cool thing,” Wilson said later. “We’re about to go on a tour…the biggest one I’ve done so far, and I’m just so excited to continue telling my story as I’m living, as I’m experiencing life. I’m about to get married and do all these things, and so it’s cool for me to be able to share those parts of my life with the people who support me. It’s a genuine support that I don’t take lightly.”

Lainey Wilson: Tough as Nails is open to the public as of Friday (July 18). Wilson’s collaborators, Aaron Raitiere and Jon Decious, will appear for a Songwriter Session in the museum’s Ford Theater to support the exhibit opening on Saturday (July 19). The exhibit will remain open through June of 2026. It is included with admission into the venue. Scroll below to see photos from Wilson's celebration and of some of the artifacts on display.