Whatever Happened To Gretchen Wilson?
Gretchen Wilson was undoubtedly one of the biggest Nashville stars of the 2000s. She scored three consecutive number-one albums on the Hot Country Albums, with "All Jacked Up" even reaching pole position on the Billboard 200. And the Illinois native received 10 Grammy Award nominations, picking up Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Redneck Woman."
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times about the hit song, Wilson affirmed that she was simply speaking her own truth in the lyrics — one that many other women could likely relate to but weren't exactly hearing in other country songs at that time. "A redneck woman is hard-working, she's raising a family and holding down a job at the same time and is proud of who she is, no matter what," she said. That sentiment can certainly be applied to the highs and lows of the musician and proud mom's entire career.
At the end of the decade, she left Sony's Columbia Nashville to form her own Redneck Records label, and Wilson's success began to dwindle. She hasn't come close to hitting the top spot on any kind of chart and the Grammys panel hasn't recognized her since 2011. So what exactly happened to the one-time country music favorite? Well, Wilson has certainly had her fair share of drama, but she's also still out there performing the ballsy country music she made her name with — proud of who she is, no matter what. Here's a look at her recent life story.
Gretchen Wilson was arrested at an airport
As tabloids love to eagerly remind readers, there seems to be something about airports that brings out the worst behavior in celebrities. And in August 2018, Gretchen Wilson added her name to this hall of shame when she was charged with a breach of peace misdemeanor at Connecticut's Bradley International Airport. A source had told TMZ that the "Redneck Woman" singer had gotten into a fight with another passenger aboard an American Airlines flight from Washington D.C. According to CNN, after landing, the star was arrested and then charged by state police after acting belligerently toward them.
Wilson addressed the alleged incident a week later, informing her Facebook followers that she couldn't go into details due to legal reasons. However, just a few days later, she did claim to Taste of Country that the tabloid version of her troubles was far from the truth. "People who know me know that I just wanna get it straight," she said. "I'm reading all of these headlines ... like, 'Oh gosh, it's so wrong, it's all so wrong!'"
In September 2018, the charges against Wilson were eventually dropped, per People. In order to settle the charge, Wilson agreed to donate $500 to a charity. Two months later, in another interview with Taste of Country, she further insisted that the drama had been a misunderstanding and she wasn't involved in any altercation on an airplane. Per AP, Wilson griped to the press that celebrities simply weren't allowed to have off days like ordinary people.
Did she cause a late-night hotel disturbance?
Just two years after the Connecticut airport incident, Gretchen Wilson once again found herself in the headlines after she was accused of creating a disturbance. On this occasion, the Hotel Encanto in Las Cruces, New Mexico was the scene of all the drama. But once again, the country star claimed she was entirely innocent.
According to the 911 call made by a hotel staff member, Wilson and her fiance had been asked to quieten down several times after numerous complaints from fellow guests. "Her words [were], 'I paid for the room — I could care less what people think,'" the employee in question claimed, per Page Six. The staff member added, "Her level of talking is like our yelling." However, bodycam police footage obtained by the Associated Press threw some doubt on claims on either side of the argument.
According to the outlet, the video shows cops talking with a calm and composed Wilson in the hallway before they enter her room. Despite having told them, "We don't even have a TV on. We were very quiet," the room is totally dark save for the light from the television. After cops deduced that no noise crime had been committed, Wilson was told that the hotel manager decided she and her fiance could stay. However, she assured them she was leaving immediately for another establishment, stating, "We have been treated like s*** since we've been here." Wilson later implored her Twitter followers to boycott the offending hotel.
Gretchen Wilson found success difficult to deal with
Growing up, Gretchen Wilson lived in the small town of Pocahontas, Illinois, which had a population of approximately 800 people at that time. So the musician no doubt experienced quite the culture shock when she was thrust into the Grammy Award-winning, chart-topping limelight. In a 2017 interview with The Boot, the singer revealed that she struggled to adapt. "I spent my whole life looking for that moment, but as prepared as I thought I was, I wasn't. It happened so fast. I had a major label deal at the time, and I think that they thought that I was the next Shania Twain," she explained. "... There was one trip that, I think, we crossed the International Date Line three times in a week and a half. I didn't know what day it was."
To make things even more challenging, Wilson was also busy juggling her music career with motherhood having given birth to daughter Gracie in 2000. The country music favorite often took her offspring out on tour with her, something she now realizes was a recipe for chaos, stating, "Can you imagine flying to Australia and worrying where the Ovaltine and diapers and stuff like that are? It was kind of nutty in the beginning."
The pressures of touring got to her
From her 2004 debut "Here for the Party" up to 2013's "Right on Time," Gretchen Wilson spent a lot of time on tour. And having spent so many years on the live circuit, the country star perhaps inevitably ended up experiencing one of the most recurring pop star problems: total and utter burnout.
Speaking to The Boot in 2017, the "When I Think About Cheatin'" singer admitted that she needed some lengthy "me time" to recuperate from life on the road. "It wasn't just summertime touring — it was all year, a lot of the year, every year, for 12 years," she said. "I got wore out. I feel like everything got wore out, not just vocally, but I, just physically, got wore out, and I needed a little time off." Wilson was aware of how lucky she was to be in the position to press pause on her career, adding, "Not too many people get to go, 'I'm going to stay home with my kid for two years' ... so I feel very fortunate that I got to do that. But that time gave me the [desire] to get creative, too ... It gave me time to think." That same year, Wilson announced her return to the stage to promote her seventh studio effort "Ready to Get Rowdy."
Faith Hill played a major part in her career
You might not expect country music golden girl Faith Hill to have been a major source of inspiration for proud redneck Gretchen Wilson. But in a 2020 interview with Taste of Country, the latter revealed that she owes much of her career to the former.
Wilson recalled how she and John Rich, the Lonestar bassist who co-produced her 2004 debut album "Here for the Party," were once watching music television when the promo for Hill's "Breathe" popped up. The singer said, "She's gorgeous. She looks like a supermodel. She's rolling around in satin sheets ... I looked at John and said, 'This is probably never gonna happen for me because I'll never look like that, and I'll never be that. That is just not the kind of woman I am.'"
Rich encouraged Wilson to embrace the kind of woman she is, and the result was "Redneck Woman," the track which not only topped the US Hot Country Songs chart but also won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The star added, "For a long time, I feel like in country music, women had gotten so slick and soft and pretty. So being authentic and being real, that is what got me to this dance."
Kid Rock and Gretchen Wilson joined forces
Kid Rock is another one-time country music favorite whose commercial fortunes now appear to be in decline. But that didn't stop Gretchen Wilson from roping him in for her 2017 comeback album "Ready to Get Rowdy." Indeed, the pair, who have been friends since the mid-'00s, joined forces on the track "Bad Feeling."
While promoting the record, Wilson told Rare Country (via American Songwriter) that she and Rock first forged a connection after meeting at producer John Rich's 30th birthday bash. "We started talking and, ever since then, we get together whenever we can, whether that's to drink some beers or make some music." The Grammy Award winner also revealed that "Bad Feeling" was inspired by one particular get-together in which the American Badass was clearly going through a rough time.
"He was sort of a mess over everything, and I just left with this song sort of in my head," Wilson remarked. "I got together with a couple of amazing songwriters and got to writing. We trade favors. It was [Rock's] turn, so I asked him to sing on it with me, and I was really impressed with his vocals." Luckily, Rock's state of mind had improved by the time he headed into the studio with his long-time pal.
Gretchen Wilson is proud of her daughter
Born at the turn of the century, Gretchen Wilson's daughter Grace Penner is now a film production manager who recently graduated from Belmont University. And her country singer mum couldn't be prouder, as she told John Rich, her long-time producer and host of "The Pursuit!" in 2020. "My daughter is the first person in my family's history to go to college, and she wouldn't be there if I hadn't decided that I can do both things [being a mom and a successful musician]," she said. "I can imagine life without this career. Couldn't imagine it without her."
Wilson admitted that she feared her musical dream would shatter once she fell pregnant with Grace. "I was in the middle of recording and in big-time studios in Nashville, Tennessee, with big-time people. And my career was taking off and it was amazing. And then all the sudden boom ... I thought it was all going to come to an end." However, once Rich, who produced Wilson's 2004 debut album "Here for the Party," reminded her that Loretta Lynn had multiple children, the star recognized she could be both a mother and Grammy Award-winning, chart-topping star.
She has been busy mentoring Jessie G
Gretchen Wilson may have been quiet on the musical front as of late. But she still has at least one foot in Nashville waters as the mentor of an emerging country singer. The singer signed Jessie G (not to be confused with "Price Tag" hitmaker Jessie J) to her Redneck Records label in 2018 and has been very much a hands-on boss since.
Speaking to Taste of Country, Wilson remarked that she was immensely proud of her protégé, an Oregon native who previously worked as a commercial fisher. "There's not a lot of women that I come across that are as tough as she is," she said. "There's a lot of girls that sing pretty. There's a lot of girls that look great and could probably go out there and probably have a career for a minute. But there's not a lot of girls that have the strength to endure what this is really all about."
Wilson acknowledged that she can be a bit overbearing when it comes to the ins and outs of guiding Jessie's career. But the latter insisted that she has nothing but love for the woman who plucked her from obscurity, saying, "She's got one of the biggest hearts ever and that makes her a great boss."
Wilson headed back out on tour
After several years away from the live circuit, Gretchen Wilson decided to return to the road in 2018 for a tour alongside Redneck Records signing Jessie G. "The Workin' Women Tour" was a little less exhausting than her previous itineraries. Only a handful of headlining shows were announced alongside performances at intriguing-sounding events such as Obetz Zucchinifest and the Tennessee Soybean Festival.
In an interview with The Boot, Wilson explained that she was taking things much easier this time around in order to avoid the burnout of her earlier days. The "Work Hard, Play Harder" singer also admitted that after such a long time away from the stage, she was a little apprehensive about playing in front of a crowd again.
However, Wilson acknowledged that the lure of performing had ultimately been too hard to resist. "I've missed that a lot, more than I think I know," she said. "I've missed being onstage and just feeling the excitement from the crowd and hearing them sing my words back to me. It's the greatest high on Earth. It's a lot of emotions; it's a lot of different feelings all balled into one."
She had a Waffle House Christmas
Gretchen Wilson got the Christmas present of her dreams in 2018 when she was invited to work with one of her all-time musical icons — Bill Anderson. While she didn't actually get to sing alongside the legendary singer-songwriter, she was instead asked to put on a fast-food uniform for the music video for "Waffle House Christmas," the festive single from his 72nd studio album, "Anderson" (yes, 72nd!).
Wilson joined several other country singers in the promo including Tanya Tucker, Jeannie Seely, and her close friend Kid Rock. And in a press release for the clip, the chart-topper revealed she couldn't have been more excited at the prospect. "I am so grateful that I was asked to be involved in something like this," she said. "I've been such a fan of Bill Anderson for so long. And I get to hang out with my heroes!"
But as she explained, this wasn't the first time that Wilson had donned such an outfit. "I also had a Waffle House uniform in my closet from a television special we did several years ago, so it's been a lot of fun being part of this music video." It also wasn't the first time that she'd embraced the holiday season in her career. In 2013, she released the Yuletide album, "Christmas In My Heart."
A whiskey company tapped her up as an ambassador
Having scored a U.S. Country number one with "Redneck Woman," Gretchen Wilson was undoubtedly a no-brainer when it came to selecting ambassadors for Redneck Riviera Whiskey in 2018. The Grammy Award winner joined fellow country stars Colt Ford and Granger Smith to promote the brand owned by John Rich, the producer of her 2004 debut album "Here for the Party." In a press release about the partnership published by Business Wire, Wilson said, "When John and I wrote 'Redneck Woman' 15 years ago, little did we know there would be a Redneck Riviera Whiskey someday. While that [song] changed my life, here's to hoping this whiskey will change your attitude."
Let's just hope that Rich didn't read the interview Wilson gave to High Octane a year later. When asked about her personal evolution, the Nashville favorite answered, "We all get older; my drink of choice has graduated just like my age has. I'm more of a red wine sipper now. I still get on the Jack Daniels every once in a while, but I also get up every morning and get on the John Deere zero turn and mow the yard and work outside."
Gretchen continues to celebrate George Jones
Gretchen Wilson has always been something of a George Jones fangirl. In a 2004 Billboard article, the singer revealed that after opening for the country legend, she would stand at the side of the stage just to get a glimpse of him and that she'd sneakily touch his guitar, too. Wilson has continued to pay her respects following his death in 2013. Six years later, she joined her Redneck Records protégé Jessie G for a performance of "Stacy" at the George Jones Museum.
In 2023, she then joined the likes of Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, and Dierks Bentley at Still Playin' Possum: Music and Memories of George Jones, a tribute show held at Huntsville's Von Braun Center. Wilson performed "I Always Get Lucky with You" at the event, a ballad originally recorded by Merle Haggard in 1981 but released as a single two years later by Jones. Alabama.com was full of praise for the Grammy Award winner's interpretation, writing that she "brought grit" to what was Jones' final U.S. Country chart No. 1 single.
She returned to the CMAs stage
During the '00s, Gretchen Wilson amassed five nominations at the Country Music Association Awards, winning Female Vocalist of the Year in 2005. But the Tennessee native was snubbed by the event throughout the following decade. That is, until, she was invited back to its stage in 2019 for a celebration of women's contributions to country music. Wilson joined an all-star medley of some of the greatest country songs ever performed by women alongside such artists as Terri Clark, Martina McBride, and the show's co-host Dolly Parton. As part of that performance, Wilson was able to belt out her 2004 chart-topping debut single, "Redneck Woman." But the highlight of the singer's night may well have been her interaction with one of the night's co-hosts.
A publicist for Wilson told Country Now that during a rehearsal for the ceremony, the "Come to Bed" hitmaker complimented Parton on her black rhinestone pants, adding that she'd like to find a similar pair herself. Instead of simply offering directions to the nearest boutique, the country legend generously offered her own pair. Wilson gleefully accepted and wore the pants on the night itself.