Lainey Wilson just discussed how she had to face the dark side of fame once she became famous, revealing that she once felt like she was “spiraling out of control” when anxiety and depression consumed her at the height of her success.
The Yellowstone star, who has become one of the biggest breakout names in country music in recent years, shared her deeply personal experiences in her new Netflix documentary Lainey Wilson: Keeping the Country Cooland her words are quite recognizable.
“A few years ago it was wild,” she admitted. “Everything I ever dreamed of actually happened all at once.”
The Watermelon Moonshine singer continued, “When opportunities come your way, and you haven’t had any in so long, you just want to take them all.”
“I think a small part of that was probably the fear that they wouldn’t always be there,” Lainey added.
But behind the sold-out shows and career-defining moments, the star was struggling and well beyond okay.
“I think I haven’t felt like myself for a few years,” she revealed. “I had reached a point where I thought, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same.'”
“I was extremely anxious and the anxiety caused depression,” says the Heart like a truck hitmaker confessed, adding: “And the depression caused more anxiety, because I was like, ‘Why the hell am I depressed at this time in my life? This is all I’ve ever wanted.'”
The emotional toll became impossible to ignore. “I’ve had several breakdowns, you might say,” Lainey continued. “I thought I wouldn’t come back from that either.”
“It was a bad panic attack for several days. I had been playing shows and stuff while I was having the panic attack. It was terrifying,” she admitted.
Lainey described the experience as a “chemical imbalance,” adding, “I spiraled out of control. And then there’s the fear of thinking you’ll always be stuck in that mindset. It causes even more anxiety. It’s just a vicious circle.’
In the midst of that difficult time, Lainey turned to someone she deeply admires, Reba McEntire, for guidance. “I said, ‘This is a loaded question, but what do you do when you feel like you can’t go any further?’” she recalls.
Reba’s response proved transformative. “She said, ‘I’m doing it for someone else.’ And that put so much into perspective for me.”
That simple mindset shift has helped Lainey Wilson reconnect with her purpose. Now when she takes the stage, it’s no longer just about the pressure to succeed, but about the people in front of her. “I’m on that stage and I’m doing it for other people.”
