All About Lainey Wilson's Parents, Michelle and Brian Wilson

Lainey Wilson has a lot of love for her parents, Brian and Michelle Wilson.

The country artist has racked up an impressive list of accolades in recent years, including the 2023 CMA Entertainer of the Year award, but it all pales in comparison to being Brian and Michelle’s daughter in her book.

Born on May 19, 1992, Lainey is Brian and Michelle’s second daughter. They raised her and her older sister Janna Wilson Sadler in Brian’s hometown of Baskin, Louisiana. The small town, which has more corn fields than residents, has become a permanent fixture in Lainey’s songwriting, as has her relationship with her parents.

“My family means a whole lot to me. I am who I am because of the people who raised me,” the “Watermelon Moonshine” singer told American Songwriter. “I love them, I really do. I feel like I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t raised by Brian and Michelle Wilson.”

Her parents may be her muse, but praise doesn't come cheap in the Wilson household. While promoting her fourth album, Bell Bottom Country, Lainey told Taste of Country that her dad’s foot tapping is usually her tell-tale sign that she’s sitting on a hit.

"He's a man of few words. I'm talking about like, the only way I knew that he liked a song of mine when I was little was if he was tapping his toe or not," she said. "And with [“Those Boots (Deddy’s Song)”], I played it for him and he was tapping his toe, so I was like, alright, check. But then afterwards he said, 'That's pretty dang good.' So I was like, 'We're getting somewhere!' "

When Lainey won her first Grammy Award ever in February 2024, she mentioned her family as she accepted the award for best country album.

"I am from a farming community in northeast Louisiana, a little town of 200 people, and I'm a fifth-generation farmer's daughter, and I would consider myself a farmer too," she said.

Here’s everything to know about Lainey Wilson’s parents, Brian and Michelle Wilson, and their relationship with the rising country artist.

They live in Baskin, Louisiana 

Having grown up in Baskin himself, Brian couldn’t think of a better place to raise his children. The quaint farm town, known for its corn and cotton fields, sits near the top northwest corner of Louisiana.

During an appearance on Southern Living’s Biscuits & Jam podcast, Lainey described her hometown as “a little speed trap” with a “bunch of hard-working, good-hearted people.”

“It's a town of about 200 people and some change. Nothing but a bunch of corn fields, not even a spotlight. All 200 people are basically my family and if they aren’t blood-related we might as well be related,” she quipped.

Brian is a fifth-generation farmer

On his family farm, Brian grows corn, wheat and oats. As a kid, Lainey remembers her dad getting “up at the butt crack of dawn and in late at night” to tend to the fields.

On the Biscuits & Jam podcast, the country artist joked that spending quality time with her dad often meant working alongside him.

“He put us to work,” Lainey said. “A lot of the time, if we wanted to spend time with him, we had to go out to the field and ride the tractor with him.”

“He’s the hardest-working person I know,” she added.

Michelle worked as a teacher

Education was an important cornerstone of Lainey’s childhood. Michelle was a dedicated school teacher and taught her daughter how to “tell it like it is with grace,” Lainey said on the Biscuits & Jam podcast.

“My momma's the kindest woman I know. Also knows how to work hard and loves people and loves her family,” she shared about her mom.

They also have a daughter named Janna

Before Lainey came along, the pair welcomed a daughter named Janna. She works in corporate accounting and shares two sons, Knox and Ledger, with husband Taylor Salder. The pair tied the knot on Dec. 13, 2014.

More recently, Janna was in attendance to watch her little sister get crowned Entertainer of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards.

“A Legend. @laineywilson you continue to break barriers with your unstoppable drive, vision, and true kindness. You are a dang good human and deserve all the wonderful things. We love you. We are so proud of you,” she wrote on Instagram alongside a carousel of photos from the night.

Michelle is best friends with HARDY’s mom

While collaborating on their joint track “Wait in the Truck,” Lainey and HARDY became thick as thieves — and their friendship quickly became a family affair.

While appearing on Mo & StyckMan PLUS, Lainey revealed that her mom and HARDY’s mom are “the best of friends” and the pair sat together at the 2023 CMA Awards.

Lainey went on to joke that the moms may even have a tighter bond than she and the “One Beer” singer-songwriter.

“The other day, I walked in and my mama was getting a recipe from somebody on the phone. I said, ‘Who was that?’ And she said, ‘Oh, that’s Mama HARDY,’ ” Lainey recalled. “Me and HARDY don’t even talk like that! It’s like ‘I’ll see ya when I see ya, brother.’ ”

They’ve both inspired songs off Lainey’s album Bell Bottom Country

Fans can learn a lot about Lainey’s upbringing from her lyrics, several of which circle back to her parents and growing up on a farm. In fact, track five on Bell Bottom Country was largely inspired by one of her mom’s favorite sayings: “Grease.”

“It’s a saying that my mama used to say all the time, like, ‘Now we’re cooking with grease. Now we’re getting somewhere,’ ” Lainey said during an interview on Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen. “I feel like those are little sayings that I cannot escape. Certain things that my family said growing up, it just somehow makes its way into my music.”

Similarly, Lainey revisited memories of helping her dad get ready for work while writing “Those Boots (Deddy’s Song).”

“I remember every morning, before Deddy would go to work, I remember he would holler my name and I would run from the portable building into the house, and I would help him pull his blue jeans down over the top of his boots,” she revealed.

Brian was hospitalized because of a fungal infection in 2022

In 2022, Brian spent two months in the hospital being treated for a fungal infection that led to the removal of his left eye, as well as bones from his face. On top of that, he also had a stroke.

During his stay, Brian underwent nine different surgeries and was in a rehab facility for three weeks. Lainey opened up to PEOPLE about how scary it was to watch her dad “fighting for his life.”

“It's a miracle that he's still here," she said. "The neurologist that pretty much saved his life has never known anybody to survive what he did."