April 2025

 

To all appearances, Gretchen Wilson went overnight from talented obscurity to phenomenon. Her meteoric rise, the kind experienced by only a handful of artists in the past few decades, was that rare instance where talent and moment meet to form a cultural tidal wave.

 

Wilson’s ability to tailor songs as gorgeously rough-edged as she is has given her the kind of “I am what I sing” originality few women in music history have ever been able to achieve. Her first single, “Redneck Woman,” spent six weeks at #1. Her debut album, Here for the Party, sold more than 5 million copies and spawned three more top five hits, including, “Homewrecker,” “When I Think About Cheatin’,” and the title track, “Here for the Party.” Her second album, All Jacked Up, saw four more hit songs like “California Girls,” “I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today,” “Politically Uncorrect (Feat. Merle Haggard)” and the title cut, and rode enthusiastic reviews to platinum status, while her third record, One of the Boys, solidified Wilson’s position as one of contemporary music’s most original and multi-faceted female artists.

 

Wilson has won awards across the board, including ACMs, CMAs, AMAs, and Billboard Music Awards. She is also a GRAMMY winner and nine-time nominee. Her first book, the autobiographical Redneck Woman: Stories from My Life, landed her on the New York Times bestseller list. Since Wilson’s debut, she has been featured on 60 MINUTES, “Dateline NBC,” “20/20 Primetime,” “CNN’s People in the News” and has appeared on virtually every morning, noon and late-night television show on the air.

 

While Wilson is among the millions of Americans who didn’t finish high school, the dedicated mother earned her GED at age 34 to show her daughter just how important an education is. After much soul-searching, prayer and consultation, she left her original label home in July 2009 and launched her own label, Redneck Records, Since then, she has released six albums on the label and received a GRAMMY nomination for her single “I’d Love to Be Your Last.” 

 

After taking some time off the road and releasing music, Wilson joined her buddies Big & Rich and Cowboy Troy for the 20^th Anniversary Celebration Tour in 2024. She hit the road on her own headlining tour earlier this year for dates that will crisscross the U.S. and abroad. The 20^th anniversary of “Redneck Woman” and the Here for the Party album landed her on the high-profile CMA Fest television special in summer 2024.