Lainey Wilson’s road to stardom has been a long one and marked by years of hardship, including anxiety and burnout.
The country star, 33, is opening up about the mental health struggles she’s faced along the way, telling People she once worked with three therapists at the same time to help set her back on course.
It ‘helps me get a point across with a little bow wrapped on top, because if I really let my Louisiana crazy side come out, I’d be saying things a little sideways,’ she revealed.
It’s come in handy especially on tour where ‘you have 100 something people with you, and you’re dealing with a lot of different personalities,’ said Wilson, who recently revealed she’s frozen her eggs ahead of her wedding to fiancé Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges.
‘I want it to be an environment that people want to come and work. I want people to want to stick around for 30, 40 years, however long we’re out there getting it. So, she’s just teaching me that side of things and how to set boundaries.’
The Heart Like a Truck singer, who discusses the topic in her upcoming Netflix documentary, Lainey Wilson: Keepin’ Country Cool, streaming on April 22, battled anxiety and depression early in her career.
Lainey Wilson has opened up about the mental health struggles she’s faced on the road to stardom; seen in March
The Heart Like a Truck hitmaker told People she once worked with three therapists at the same time to help set her back on a healthier course; seen in March
She famously struggled for over 10 years after moving to Nashville in 2011 at age 19, living in a camper trailer and working as a Hannah Montana impersonator to survive. In 2018, she finally landed a major label deal.
A punishing radio schedule in 2019 pushed her to the brink and became a round-the-clock panic attack that lasted for days.
‘I was going around meeting every radio station in America,’ she told the outlet. ‘You go into a conference room and you play your song and sometimes they’re into it, sometimes they’re on their phone, sometimes you’re singing to the carpet.
‘After four months solid visiting all these different radio stations, I was just exhausted and I was burned-out from having to constantly be on. I wanted to curl up in a little ball and shut the world out completely.’
But friend and mentor Reba McEntire, who Wilson has described as a ‘beautiful person inside and out,’ gave her advice to live by.
‘When I feel like I can’t do it anymore, I do it for somebody else,’ Wilson said McEntire told her. ‘It was like a light bulb went off.’
She kept those words of wisdom close during her Whirlwind world tour, which kicked off in March 2025 and concluded the following November. She shared them during every show by picking out a young ‘cowgirl of the night’ from the audience and bringing her on stage to tell her, ‘You are beautiful, you’re smart, you’re talented, you can do anything.’
That attitude has served to keep Wilson mentally and emotionally stable now that she’s established herself as one of country music’s biggest stars with numerous awards under her belt including a Grammy and CMA Entertainer of the Year in 2023 and 2025.
Wilson, 33, famously struggled for over 10 years after moving to Nashville in 2011, living in a camper trailer and working as a Hannah Montana impersonator before landing a major label deal in 2028
A punishing radio schedule in 2019 pushed her to the brink and became a round-the-clock panic attack that lasted for days
‘I’m not just a singer, songwriter, musician – that’s what I do,’ she explained. ‘Trophies and awards are things that come along with success, but it cannot define me as a person, because that’s when I lose sight of who I am. I got to keep my head screwed on straight.’
Meanwhile, Wilson also recently revealed she has frozen her eggs as she plans her wedding to fiancé, ex-NFL player Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges.
‘I think the world and just people in general try to give you a timeline when things should be happening, and I’m just so thankful that I was given the opportunity to do the egg retrieval and that it was successful,’ the superstar told People.
‘I’ve focused on my career for so long, and I definitely have something to show for it with my music, but I have other dreams too.
‘It [egg retrieval] was a decision I already made. I found a window in my schedule, and as soon as I got back from touring in Europe, I started my process. I just made this a big priority. I had to say, like, “All right, it’s got to be on the schedule.”‘
The Heart Like a Truck hitmaker revealed in February 2025 that she and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback were engaged after he popped the question, but the star told how she nearly proposed to him.
She explained, ‘I knew that I was going to end up with Duck, but I thought I was going to have to propose, so I was like, “Dang it, if he don’t hurry up!”‘
Lainey previously praised Duck as her ‘best friend,’ and admitted her romance is ‘a lot different than a normal relationship’ because of her touring schedule.
Wilson also recently revealed she has frozen her eggs as she plans her wedding to fiancé, ex-NFL player Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges (they are pictured in November 2025)
The singer guest-starred in five episodes of Yellowstone as Abby, a musician who had a romance with ranch hand Ryan (Ian Bohen)
‘He is one of the purest hearts and people that I have ever met. He is my biggest cheerleader. We don’t really play by the rules,’ she said.
‘We don’t get to see each other all the time, and I do live a lot of my life on the road, so we’re also kind of figuring it out as we go, which is fun.’
She added, ‘You have to definitely carve out the time. It has to be something that you’re very aware of, and you’re like, “OK, I’ve got a day off here in 10 days. I’ve got to dedicate that day to spend time with my person.”‘
‘And we both need that and deserve that, and it’s always great. We just try to soak up those moments as best as we possibly can.’
