Lainey Wilson reveals Keith Urban's brutal 5-word reality check when she complained about grueling schedule
"Reminders of Him" star Lainey Wilson reveals how country singers Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert's mentorship helped shape her rise in music industry.
Lainey Wilson revealed the five-word reality check Keith Urban once gave her.
Wilson admitted she was running on fumes, after performing over 180 shows in a year, and Urban wasn’t about to let her complain.
"I had been on the road … I think we played 180-something shows that year," she said during an appearance on the podcast "No Filter". "And I saw him and I was telling him, I was just like, 'I'm tired.' And he was like, ‘No whining on the yacht.’ And I was like, 'Keith, you better get up out my face.'"
That's not the only advice the "You'll Think Of Me" singer has given Wilson.
"Keith Urban has been one of those guys for me," she said. "He told me not long ago. He's like, 'It's better to maintain balance than always be trying to achieve it.'"
"To me, that means figure out what works for you," Wilson added. "Have work-life balance and don't lose that. Because once you do, and you're kinda lopsided, then, like, it's hard to get back."
The "Reminders of Him" star also gave a shout-out to Miranda Lambert for helping her find her way in the industry.
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"She has been somebody that I can call, and she just like tells you like it is," Wilson explained. "And she's one of the people who told me – She's like, 'It's 20% music and 80% business. And so, once I started hearing that kind of stuff and just picking up on random wisdom that so many artists have been willing to share with me, I write it down in a little section of my phone."
Wilson also recalled the moment she realized that some of the biggest names in country music had become her friends.
"It was one of those things where now I'm getting invited to the CMA Awards – the Country Music Awards," the "Heart Like a Truck" singer said. "Now I'm getting to sit with these people and sit at the same table as them. It's the craziest thing. And then they start treating you like you are one of them."
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Wilson said she couldn't help but think back to her younger self watching the same award shows.
"I just remember being a little girl watching all these awards thinking, 'Man, it'd be really cool if I could be down there in the mix with those people.' Because I felt like I was one of them," she noted.
That feeling deepened once the wins started coming. Wilson was honored as the new artist of the year in 2022, and later earned entertainer of the year in 2024 and 2025.
"It was one of those moments for me where I'm like, ‘OK, this industry that I have been working on my relationships for 15 years now. These people have come to bat for me,'" Wilson explained. "And now, people like Keith Urban and all the other people in between that I've met – when your peers and the people that you look up to are proud for you and voting for you. It makes you feel like, 'OK, like that little 9-year-old girl wasn't that crazy.'"
