With 16 ACM awards, nine CMA awards, 3 Grammy awards, and currently out on a world tour consisting of 45 stops, it’s hard to imagine the queen of bell bottoms as anything but a country music powerhouse. But, at just 18 years old, Lainey Wilson was still just chasing this dream and doing whatever it took to make it a reality, even writing a letter to Tim McGraw.
The 15-year-old letter can now be found at Wilson’s brand-new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. In a recent clip from the museum’s TikTok, Wilson is shown as she takes a walk down memory lane through the “Lainey Wilson: Tough As Nails” collection.
In the heart of Nashville, the exhibition houses everything from Wilson’s show-stopping stagewear to her early relics from her childhood, such as her cheer uniform and horse saddle. Of course, no celebrity’s collection is complete without a few diary entries that unveil some of their earliest recollections of yearning for stardom.
Fittingly, a journal entry from a young 16-year-old Lainey Wilson shows her long-standing ambitions: “My dream is to become a country singer/songwriter. I know I can do it.” Continuing down the road, the museum also features Wilson’s bold letter from a few years later that she wrote to the one and only “Humble and Kind” singer, Tim McGraw.
Hilariously, it very formally starts off, “Dear Mr. Tim McGraw.” In the clip, Wilson giggles to herself while reading it, and admits, “We were desperate.” The page-long letter begins with a short introduction where Wilson explains she’s a Louisiana native starting her first semester at La. Delta Community College of Monroe, where she is pursuing a nursing degree.
“I have been writing songs since I was nine years old. I went to Nashville to see Herry Cupit, Cupit Recording Studio at the age of 14 years old. Ge told me then, and he continues to tell me that I am what Nashville calls the ‘total package’.”
The second paragraph outlines Wilson’s desire to find some sponsors for her budding career, and that she’d love to get in touch with McGraw since he’s also a trustworthy Louisiana native. Not only did Wilson apparently include her portfolio of work along with the letter, but she also goes on to talk about her extracurriculars: softball, dance, cheerleading, and, of course, “just being a country girl”. The last paragraph discusses Wilson’s family background, including the names and occupations of her father, mother, and older sister, as well as how her grandparents were McGraw junkies before he got his start.
The last line of the letter is a complete mic drop on Wilson’s behalf and shows she’s had the charisma to make it in this industry since day one. “Singing, writing, and performing are the most important things in my life. All I need is the opportunity; I can do the rest.”
Crazy enough, despite being one of the most prominent female voices in country music right now and having quite a few of her songs popularly featured on the hit show, “Yellowstone,”– which McGraw starred in the prequel series for, “1883” – Wilson shared that she has still yet to meet McGraw. After rereading her note, she jokingly states, “I’m about to just send it to him now.”
For fans hoping to see more of Wilson’s archives from her Louisiana roots to pieces from the glitz and glam of her “bell bottom country” revolution, the exhibit will be open for quite some time until June 30, 2026. Hopefully, with the CMA Awards coming up in November, as well as the ACM awards the following May, there will be ample opportunities for the Wilson and McGraw crossover event to finally take place. Or who knows, maybe the uncovering of this 2010 relic will spur a Louisiana pure-bred collaboration between the two.
Watch the clip here: