Lainey Wilson will continue her reign as the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, for the third year in a row. The Louisiana native, who won the trophy at CMA Awards, thanked her family, her boyfriend Devlin “Duck” Hodges, and her fans.
“Duck, I love you so much. Man, this community has wrapped its arms around me, and lifted me up from the get-go,” Wilson said. “I’ve always been told that if you feel like you got a gift, you’re supposed to share it. And I think that means, whether you drive a tractor or pour coffee, make people smile or laugh, whatever that is, I think you’re supposed to share that gift. And I just want to say thank you all so much for letting me share mine. Thank you, Jesus.”
Wilson, who also won the CMA Award for Music Video of the Year (for “Wildflowers and Wild Horses”), was nominated for Entertainer of the Year as well, a category she won in 2023. After winning the night’s highest honor last year, Wilson used that award to motivate her even more moving forward. Morgan Wallen won the 2024 CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being invited to the CMAs, being nominated, much less being in the batch of people that they nominated for Entertainer of the Year. They’re all my buddies,” Wilson said, who also shared the category with Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, and Chris Stapleton. “They’re all people that I look up to, and people who have kind of helped me along the way. To think that my name is mentioned along with theirs is pretty cool.
“But I feel the love,” she continued. “I feel like this past year, from being the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, I feel like I tried to dig my boots in a little bit deeper, and prove to some of the folks why CMA chose me to be the Entertainer of the Year. So, we’ll see what happens this year.”
In addition to hosting the live ceremony, alongside Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, Wilson also performed her current single, “4X4XU,” written about her relationship with Hodges.
“The song is very special to me,” Wilson said. “I wrote it about my good-hearted man. He’s my biggest cheerleader, and I’m excited to be able to sing the song to the world. My mom and daddy are going to be out in the crowd. It’s a big night. Any chance that I get to be a part of something like this, it always feels really, really special. And because the song is special to me, it’s just a double whammy.”
Find all of Wilson’s music and upcoming shows at LaineyWilson.com.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of the CMA