Lainey Wilson Recalls Being 14 Years Old and Seeing Taylor Swift Perform for Tiny CMA Fest Crowd

Lainey Wilson is one of the biggest names in country music today. After decades of chasing her dream of being a star, she finally broke through with her 2022 album Bell Bottom Country. However, she wouldn’t be where she is today if she didn’t love the music. Long before she was performing in front of thousands of people, she was a fan in the crowd cheering for artists she loved. Recently, she revealed that one of those artists was a young Taylor Swift.

Yesterday (July 10), Wilson appeared on the Today Show and took part in their 8 Before 8 segment. She answered eight rapid-fire questions before eight in the morning. During the segment, she revealed how it feels to know that Swift is a fan of hers. She also recalled seeing her perform before she was a superstar.

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Lainey Wilson Reflects on Seeing a Young Taylor Swift Perform

“It is really cool that Taylor Swift is a fan of me,” Lainey Wilson said. “I have always been a fan of hers,” she added.

Then, Wilson recalled seeing Swift perform long before either of them were the A-list stars they are today. “I saw her at CMA Fest when I was like 14. I think she was 16 years old. She was playing on the Riverfront Stage,” Wilson recalled. “I actually got an opportunity to tell her. I was like, ‘I was at that show!’ She said, ‘There was like 10 people there!’ And I said, ‘Me and my family were part of the 10.’”

Speaking about Swift’s work, Wilson said, “I’m just a huge fan of what she does but most importantly, her work ethic. I think she’s a lady that a lot of folks should look up to.”

Swift Recalls That CMA Fest Performance

In a throwback interview, a young T-Swift reflected on that CMA Fest performance. “The CMA Music Fest was amazing. It was so much fun because it was actually the first time we had gotten that band together and done the full band show,” she recalled. The clip below shows a snippet of the concert as well as the small crowd gathered to see the up-and-comer.

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