Lainey Wilson Auditioned for The Voice [SPOILER] Amount of Times
From repeated rejection to the Playoff Mentor’s chair, Wilson’s trajectory on The Voice has been “pretty crazy!”
Country singer Lainey Wilson may be just about the hottest thing in Nashville these days, not to mention making The Voice a regular hangout. After receiving a show-stopping Grand Ole Opry invitation from Reba McEntire during the show’s Season 25 finale earlier this year, Wilson is back this week as the Season 26 Playoff Mentor for none other than — yep, you guessed it! — Team Reba.
Fresh off the release of new album Whirlwind and taking home the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year award for 2024, Wilson and her infectious brand of “bell-bottom country” has been unstoppable over the the past 12 months. Add to that the debut of her very own downtown Nashville bar in May (it’s called Bell Bottoms Up — what else!?), and it’s safe to say that 2024 has been a meteoric year for the Louisiana-born 32-year-old.
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“It’s pretty crazy!” — Lainey Wilson on all her unsuccessful auditions for The Voice
Things weren’t always so certain for Wilson’s ascent to the top of the country music charts, a fact she and McEntrie sat and reflected on as the two got set to greet the Artists from Team Reba during rehearsals for this week’s Playoffs round.
“You tried out for The Voice seven times,” said Reba… and look where you are now!”
“I tried out seven times…” Wilson nodded, obviously awed at the funny way her musical career has completely come full circle. “It’s pretty crazy!”
“That shows you,” Reba emphasized, “[that] if you want something, you’ve gotta fight for it. You gotta stay in there. You’re gonna get a lot of ‘Nos.’ That’s what we keep telling everybody when we have to make decisions!”
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Wilson repeatedly auditioned for both The Voice and American Idol before scoring her big break, an up-and-comer’s struggle she shared with Entertainment Tonight after taking home the ACM Entertainer of the Year award earlier this year. For Wilson’s family, taking the Season 25 stage with Reba marked the high point of her musical journey, she teased — despite racking up multiple chart-topping singles and earning loads of industry acclaim.
“I didn’t even make it to, like, the part [on The Voice] where they turn the chairs around,” Wilson joked. “But hey — it just kinda lit a fire under me, and I said, ‘You gotta keep on going, you know?’ …[Now] I’ve got family members who are like, ‘She’s finally on The Voice!’”
Where can you watch The Voice?
Catch new episodes of The Voice Mondays and Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC. Every episode also arrives on Peacock the next day, so if you missed it the night before, you can always catch up.
