Lainey Wilson Shares Her Go-to Songs for Every Mood: From Willie Nelson to Sabrina Carpenter and Everything in Between

Maybe Lainey Wilson didn’t single-handedly make country cool again, but the genre’s “moment” certainly wouldn’t have happened without her. The Louisiana native has taken Nashville by storm with seven CMA Awards, six CMT Awards, and even a GRAMMY. With her fifth studio album Whirlwind just weeks away, Wilson recently sat down with Glamour magazine to discuss which songs are currently living rent-free in her head.

1. “Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter

Lainey Wilson is having a “brat summer” with this effervescent self-confidence anthem. “I think she’s just a little badass,” said the “Hang Tight Honey” singer of Carpenter, 25. “‘Espresso—’ you can’t help but to feel yourself for that one.”

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2. “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is the indisputable queen of break-up anthems. “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” off her latest release The Tortured Poets Department, will have you crying and dancing at the same time. “I love how they took a sad song and made it uptempo,” Wilson said. “When you can do that, and do it right, you have something really special.”

3. “On The Road Again,” Willie Nelson

No road trip is complete without the Red-Headed Stranger. “I have a lot of road trip songs,” said the ACM’s 2024 Entertainer of the Year. “Since I’m wearing my Willie Nelson T-shirt today, it’s probably gonna have to be ‘On The Road Again.’”

4. “Good Horses,” Lainey Wilson ft. Miranda Lambert

This upcoming Miranda Lambert collab is Wilson’s current theme song. Listeners must wait until Friday (Aug. 2) to hear the hook: “Good horses always come home.”

“I’m a firm believer in that,” Wilson said. “No matter where this job takes me, I’m gonna always find my way back home.

[RELATED: Lainey Wilson Announces Release Date of “Good Horses” with Miranda Lambert as “Hang Tight Honey” Hits No. 1 Across the Pond]

5. “Fancy,” Reba McEntire

Lainey Wilson calls this 1990 hit her “all-time guilty pleasure song.” “That’s my girl,” she said of Reba.

6. “When You Say Nothing at All,” Keith Whitley

The “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” singer counts this 1988 Keith Whitley cover among her greatest career inspirations. “I love how much you can really say in three and a half minutes and make it seem effortless,” Wilson said.

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