Luke Bryan Admits the Mistake ‘American Idol’ Made When It Came to Lainey Wilson

Tonight marks a big night for country singers. For Luke Bryan, he returns to American Idol alongside judges Lionel Richie and for the last time, Katy Perry. Looking at the Grammy-winning Lainey Wilson, she is set to perform at the 2024 People’s Choice Awards. But to Bryan’s astonishment, before Wilson took over country music, she auditioned for American Idol not just once, but seven times. 

Since first premiering back in 2002, American Idol welcomed aspiring musicians from all over the country to audition. With countless dreamers taking the stage, many found themselves on the outside. Wilson was once one of those hopefuls as she auditioned for the show seven times. But it wasn’t just American Idol as she also hoped to land a spot on The Voice. But with each new audition, the country star received a no. 

Not receiving a gold ticket to Hollywood, Wilson continued to move forward, and in 2023 she performed during the season 21 finale. Excited about the opportunity, she said at the time, “I finally made it on American Idol. I tried out seven times [and] I took the long way around but finally made it on American Idol [and] I never made it through… never made it past the first round.”

Luke Bryan Shocked About ‘American Idol’ Rejection

Although appearing on American Idol, Bryan had no idea that the country singer auditioned for American Idol numerous time. With him holding the power to create dreams, he said, “I didn’t know that, that was the first time I heard that, but I’ll go see my producers today and find out what happened. I’m glad she didn’t take the Idol letdown to heart.” Knowing how stressful being a judge on the show can be, Bryan added that “we don’t always get it right.”

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As for Wilson, there are no hard feelings as she now sits on top of country music and although she received rejection along the way – she insisted, “I’ve known that this is my calling, and there’s nothing else I want to do that I can do. I’ve always just been like, ‘No plan B. This is it,’ I feel like that time I’ve had to prepare, I don’t know… If it happened when I wanted it to, I don’t know that I would have been ready.”   

(Photo by Jason Davis/WireImage)